*Meet Maths Teacher whose students scored A1 parallel
*All 35 students scored A1 in Mathematics
*Passed Physics, Biology, Chemistry with Credit
There is no doubting the fact that Mr Opeyemi Jimoh is an exemplary model of how an ideal Mathematics teacher should be—proactive, patient, painstaking, friendly and methodical. The world needs more of this genius to develop the fledgling minds.
Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Nigeria, Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN), has given glory to Almighty Allah as he speaks over his immense joy at the overwhelming performance of excellence by students of one of his educational establishments at the just concluded WAEC Examinations.
Ajibola, who is a retired Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, Kingdom of Netherlands, is thanking his Lord for strengthening him to have made the IMA International Model College happen, which he said got A1 parallel in Mathematics at the African standard examination.
The new development which, of course is not new but came with added excellence this year, has been described as further proof of Allah’s acceptance of the strive of the global figure who served his father land as Minister for over six years without taking salary.
Ameera-general,Islamic Mission for Africa, Alhaja Amatullah O. Ajibola presenting a prize to one of the students.
It will be recalled that the Crescent University Abeokuta (CUAB), which is the peak of the educational establishment endeavour of the Olori Omo Oba of Owu Kingdom, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria, is today one leading private university in Nigeria with its excellent stride as “citadel of moral and academic excellence”.
Recently at a ceremony held in the premises of Islamic Mission for Africa (IMA), in Abeokuta, the 84-year-old legal luminary gave details of how the latest academic successes of his children of IMA International Model College gladdens his heart.
Bola Ajibola said: “What I saw and heard on Thursday 26th of July 2018 among our outgoing students at IMA International Model College not only amazed me but gave me the impression that these students must be the best among the best students all over Nigeria if not in Africa. They performed wonders in their dedication and diligence to fruitful and profitable performance in many ways.
“Before the day in question, they have performed wonders in their examination. And even before the examination they all unanimously took a decision to fast for seven days which they completed with prayers. God Almighty answered their prayers because all the 35 Students passed their WAEC Examinations. Besides, none of these Students failed in Mathematics.
Mr Opeyemi Jimoh (L) receiving his best teacher of the year prize from the Coordinator,IMA Model College, Abeokuta, Barr. Nurudeen Oladimeji while the Proprietor,Judge Bola Ajibola (m) smiles in admiration.
“In fact they all got A1. The most incredible of this is that one them that did further Mathematics also passed with A1. They all passed their Physics, Biology and Chemistry with Credit. On the day in question, they performed wonders in cultural display, Science, and deep Islamic Lectures. With regards to Science, they performed an experiment that really went above my imagination. They were able to produce electricity and infact light out of wired electrode and we noticed electrical light patently coming out of the wired lemon seeds which was about 20.
“On culture, two of them came out to give a wonderful performance on EWI which was done to the acclamation of all the Guests in the hall. Before the program even started, one of them continued to recite from the holy Quran virtually endlessly. He had memorised virtually a large part of the holy Quran.
“In conclusion, one of the parents who showered gifts on the students testified that his daughter that attended IMA International Model College was given a scholarship and she is now doing excellently well at Crescent university”, the Proprietor has remarked during the award/prize giving.
Meet IMA School Maths Teacher, whose students scored A1 parallel in WAEC
His name is Mr Opeyemi Jimoh, a holder of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and the University of Ibadan.
Jimoh is an unassuming egghead charged with the teaching of Mathematics at IMA International Model College, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Winner of several awards, Mr Jimoh fell deeply in love with teaching of Mathematics and Further Mathematics which many students dread like plaque owing to their abstract and “problematic” nature.
Management, stakeholders applaud
The management and other stakeholders IMA International Model College, Abeokuta, Ogun State recently applauded the superlative performance of their graduates in the 2018 West African Examinations Council’s Senior School Certificate Examination.
Apart from Prince Ajibola, who is also the Proprietor/Founder of the school, the Vice Chancellor, Crescent University, Abeokuta, (CUAB), Professor Ibraheem Gbajabiamila during his remarks at the Award and Prize-giving ceremony of the school, said the graduates of IMA International Model College were some of the lucky ones to have had access to quality education provided by the management of the school.
The Proprietor, Prince Ajibola and the Ameera General of IMA, posing with some of the successful graduates.
He noted that the success stories recorded by Crescent University today would have been impossible without the parent body, the Islamic Mission for Africa (IMA), “a parent body which gave birth to this College and Crescent University, Abeokuta”.
Gbajabiamila charged the graduates and the current students of the college to crown their excellence by joining the Crescent University.
A statement by the management said, “The College had recorded 100% success twice in the SSCE in the past. However, the uniqueness of this year’s result is the near impossible feat of A1 parallel recorded by products of the school in Mathematics in 2018.”
Also speaking, the erudite mathematics teacher, Mr Jimoh, said in a media interview that, “Mathematics is not a difficult subject; it is the methodology of many teachers and delivery that pose problems.”
He emphasized that the fear appeal by many Mathematics teachers make students dread the subject which cause the victims to later in their lives have career switch from Mathematics related subjects. “A Mathematics teacher, in his estimation, should cultivate his or her students to be their friends,” he said.
He added that he would always ensure that “certain topics like Statistics, Trigonometry, Quadratic graphs, Trigonometric graphs, Longitude and Latitude which come out every year in WAEC were always treated in details.”
“These topics need to be dealt with more seriously than the others” he revealed.
Mr Jimoh believes that since Mathematics topics are usually linked, previous knowledge of students in previous topics and previous year should be assessed by the teacher in charge who must go “extra, extra mile” to tutor the students.
He also identified that “the teacher must also be very patient in handling the subject” while an effective teacher should go as far as explaining Mathematics in indigenous language because, according to him, “the subject is abstract”.
On his advice to Mathematics teachers generally, he noted that “they should be lenient with their students while taking the subjects, noting that “some teachers make the subject hard or harder than its seems”.
Mr Jimoh said, “Mathematics deals with steps and that is what WAEC marks. You may even get the final answer wrong and still get like 9/10 in a particular question. So it has to go with steps. I have been involved in WAEC Coordination. I know the rules and this has helped”.
He also identified giving a lot of assignments and entertaining a lot of questions from students even beyond the regular periods of the subject, which according to him, is because one or two periods of regular class are not enough to groom students to the desired standard.
He also agreed to a large extent that most failure in the subject is attributable to psychological reason regarding teacher-student relationship “so that the flow of the knowledge will be okay.” He submitted.
There is no doubting the fact that Mr Opeyemi Jimoh is an exemplary model of how an ideal Mathematics teacher should be—proactive, patient, painstaking, friendly and methodical. The world needs more of this genius to develop the fledgling minds.
