Episode 2
A man of principle
Kola was a man of integrity and principle. He hated to cheat or be cheated. As a matter of fact he would never associate with corruption and indiscipline. A principled man, Kola would not compromise standard no matter the situation and would not also be easily manipulated at his duty post, For these reasons, some people did not like him.
As a trained teacher, Kola believed that he
must live by example. Therefore, at school, Kola was very strict and would always live by his words. He often challenged other teachers to live by example because he believed that most of the time, the students copied them and not what they
told them.
He faced many difficulties due to his
honesty because at most times, some of his colleagues and boss did not buy his ideas. They accused him of being rigid and wicked. They even ganged up against him and made lots of attempt to frustrate and deny him of his promotion. Yet he was not bothered and at the end triumphed. He rose through the ranks until he was promoted Principal. He was then transferred to Ajemo Secondary School.
In his school, Kola was bent on changing the wrong mentality of his students. He understood the vices in the schools which were examination malpractices, stealing, students' non challant attitude to their studies, laziness and all forms of corrupt practices. He demanded that all laid down rules and regulations which was long abandoned must be revived so as to maintain discipline and a corruption-free society, right from the school premises.He wanted to restore the lost glory of schools towards creating a better society devoid of corruption and other social vices. He promised never to engage in any preferential treatment because all must be equal before the law and also vowed never to be intimidated
He was determined to see to it that all students behaved responsibly. Latecoming was a great offence and it carried a heavy punishment.
Cheating at examinations and absenteeism without any genuine excuse also attracted punishment. Kola was ready to do everything in his capacity to turn out responsible future leaders from his school.
He maintained that the decadence experienced in the society started from homes. Then the schools' inability to live up to expectation of imparting moral values that would help mould students to be responsible further created more problems in the society.
Each time Kola looked back to the glorious past, he often wept for his dear country because with the situation on ground, he knew problem was looming. At that time, the society was peaceful. There was no unnecessary thirst for wealth. Students were serious. There was no abuse of office and all were law abiding.
All of a sudden, things changed. Worse still, it was not getting better He wondered why students no longer wanted to read their books Instead, they preferred to cheat in exams indescent dressing became the order of the day Children no longer have respect for adults, the desire for sudden riches and the looting of public treasury by public servants was on the increase.
He was sad because the leaders had set a bad precedence for the youn g ones.
However, Kola believed that things should not just continue that way in order to save the future of the country. He said that there must be a change and it must start from somewhere. Therefore, he was determined to use his position as the principal of his school to make a positive impact in the lives of his students so as to help reorientate them in a bid to help sanitise the society.
Each day on the assembly ground. Kola would speak to encourage his students to be responsible and to be ready to flush out corruption and other social vices from the society. He enlightened them that if that was done, every one would enjoy because the country‘s resources would be enough to go round. so, there would be good jobs and hope would be revived.
He further encouraged them to take the fight against corruption as a serious matter and that they should begin with themselves through self discipline He advised them not to follow the bad examples of corrupt leaders in the society. They should show that they were an entirely different breed ready for the growth, progress and a total change in the country.
In order to drive home. his point, many placards were placed at strategic points in the school premises bearing inscriptions such as: 'No to corruption,' ‘War against indiscipline and corruption ’ ‘Be responsible; behave responsibly, 'lying is a disease; stop it now,’ A good name is
worth more than silver and gold. e.t.c.
Image source: google