By David Okpala/Stella Okpala
The Parish Priest, St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Ogboji, Rev. Fr. Colman Onuegbu has called teachers and those intending to be teachers to see the job as vocation than seeing it as profession.
He said this in a homily during the funeral Mass of Nze Gordian Chukwuduruo Ezeonwuka, at Ezeonwuka’s Compound, Amaife Village, Akpo, in Aguata LGA, on January 15.
The cleric defined vocation as a type of work that you feel you are suited to doing and to which you should give all your time and energy; a call to serve God and humanity.
“It is a job whose joy and fulfilment is not dependent on how much is paid but how well the aim of the job is achieved.”
He also defined profession as any type of work which needs special training or a particular skill.
“The difference is that professionalization is about acquiring education whether formal or informal with the aim of making ends meet.
“The implication is that today’s teachers see their job as profession, that is more reason they feel irritated hearing that teacher’s reward is in heaven. It could not have irritated them if they had seen the job as a vocation.
“What the assertion is pointing at is that teachers work of moulding character is unquantifiable as such priceless, which goes to suggest that only heaven could pay teachers enough. I am not saying that teachers do not deserve wages here on earth but the major target should be job fulfilment.”
Fr. Onuegbu extolled Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s education policies of employing over 8000 teachers, promising to employ more.
He acknowledged that teacher’s take home package is in the increase, though not enough considering the economic reality of our country, advising teachers to show appreciation to Anambra State Government to changing education narratives, with that they must have positioned themselves to ask for more.
He poured encomiums on Governor Soludo for introducing free education from nursery to secondary school, believing that the policy has closed gap between rich and poor when it comes to education in Anambra State.
The cleric described late Nze Gordian Chukwuduruo Ezeonwuka as one of those teachers that saw teaching as vocation.
“Although, they were not paid much then, yet they devoted their whole life to making sure that pupil of those days got educated properly. They were disciplined, which earned them respect, men that never allowed their selves to be lured into sex scandals, even female teachers of those days were not misbehaving sexually.
“It is not like today where we hear cases of teachers stooping so low to the point of having sexual misdeed with pupil.
“Nze Gordian Chukwuduruo Ezeonwuka lived for 86 years, survived by four children and a wife. We thank God for all these, yet our solace is on the fact that he lived an impactful life. He served God and humanity creditably. I am testifying because I knew him from the time of Nigerian Civil War.
“Let those of us living today think about what people could say about them, in a meeting like this.”
Chief Emezie Ezeonwuka, the deceased younger brother on behalf of the family expressed gratitude to all in attendance and wished them well.
The funeral witnessed presence of host of Reverend Fathers. Prominent among them include Parish Priest, St Paul’s Catholic Church, Akpo, Rev. Fr. Cyriacus Ubah and his Vicar, Rev. Fr. Innocent Uwakwe.
David and Stella are of the Ministry of Information, Anambra State
