 Let me begin by congratulating all of the state winners, the state award winners, who have been up the stage. Congratulations. And we look forward to hearing who the Multina teacher of the award winner for this year will be. My class teacher in primary school, a lady called Mrs. Oyebu, on rainy days when it rained, and when we couldn't go out to play at break time, would organize debates. She'd give us a topic. I was about eight years old, I think, at the time. I was in class two also. I should divide the class up into four and against the topic. And then she'd ask us to speak and would speak. One day after one of the debates, she said to the class, I think, Oluyami, that's how I used to be called, I think Oluyami might be a very good debater. From then on, just by the words that she spoke, I took a much greater interest in debating. I went on to represent my school, my secondary school, for years in debates. And it certainly influenced my choice of the legal profession. When I got into secondary school, I wasn't particularly academically confident. There were high performance from primary schools everywhere. But two weeks after we got into Form One, it just became Form One then, and it's now GSS One, our English teacher, Mrs. Bola Elushade, now of blessed memory, had in our English class asked us to write an essay about our first day in school. Days later, she announced the name of the winner. The winner was a certain member of our class, Dakbo Ali, his name. And she said this fellow wrote the best essay and the neatest essay. And she said his essay would be posted up on the class notice board. I wasn't really paying much attention as she spoke. Then she said, well, there was one other essay. The handwriting wasn't good, but it was very imaginative. And then she read it out, and my classmates clapped. It turned out it was my essay. Mrs. Elushade decided that my essay would also be put up on the notice board, alongside the best essay. Since then, overnight, I became much more confident of my academic skills. From then on, I knew that I had to impress not just my teacher. I also could not let myself down. Fast forward to university. I was in my final year at the Faculty of Law University of Lagos in 1975. And a certain lecturer walked into a class room to take a class in jurisprudence. It was Dr. Akin Uyebodi. He had studied both at Harvard and Kiev in Russia. He had only a bunch of keys in his hands, no notes. And he spoke with such eloquence and authority for one hour on the sociological school of jurisprudence, without notes. It was that evening that I decided that whatever else I would do as a lawyer, I would certainly teach law. And that I would also master my material so well and teach so well that I would not need notes to teach. I went on to join the Faculty of Law University of Lagos a few years later in 1981. And I did exactly that. A word from a teacher to a student can make such a difference in the life of the student. That is the nature and power that teachers have. You know, people often say with a great deal of sarcasm that a teacher's reward is in heaven. The saying is meant to suggest that teaching is neither financially nor materially lucrative. Well, that's probably true. But the saying misses an important point. And it is that most committed teachers, their greatest joy and satisfaction comes from seeing their pupils and students do well and become successes in life. For most successful teachers, teaching is a vocation. It's just something that they are called to do. I was pleasantly surprised last year when my own former students did a video celebration of my fourth year at an anniversary as a university teacher. And my students include judges and justices, including a justice of the Supreme Court, the Honorable Justice John A. Angokoro. Many judges, including former Chief Judges, Chief Judge of Sokoto State, Aisha Salih Dahiru, senior advocates of Nigeria, including the first Nigerian to be a professor, to be a senior advocate, and to be a Queens Counsel, Professor of Fidelizu Dita. They also include several politicians, former governors, including Governor Gabriel Susswan, of former governor of Benway State, and the former governor of the then Western State, General David Jemi Ben-Won retired, and even royalty, the oboe of Lagos, oboe, real one, Akiholu. Now, some of this, you would notice, probably older than me. I started teaching very early, and I taught, you know, as we've heard for so many years. Many professors, many senior advocates, and I'll only mention the female senior advocates because they are much fewer. Mrs. Dorothy Udeme, who fought senior advocate of Nigeria, Professor Yamig Bangboshi, senior advocate of Nigeria, and she's now Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Ibado. Now, as you must have noticed, I speak with much pride about my former students. The successes of our students, the successes of our products, are such an immense source of pride and satisfaction, the type of reward that money cannot buy. But the teacher must be appreciated. Everyone needs affirmation and encouragement because it can only lead to greater achievements. And this is why I think the Moltena Teacher of the Year Award is an incredible boost for teachers and the teaching profession. I had the pleasure of receiving the 2020 winner of the Moltena Teacher of the Year Award last year in my office, Mrs. Bumi Awani, who started her career in teaching when after youth service in Adamawa State, she decided to stay on and teach in a secondary school in Yola. After the Moltena Award, she still teaches at the same school, the Concordia College, but has now established an NGO with part of her prize money that she's continued to work in her passion for girl child education and education for the poor and vulnerable. And she has since then been nominated for the Teacher Award of the Cambridge University Press, the 2022 Array Global Teacher of the Year Award, then in March 2022, she was one of the 100 women recognized worldwide by the International Renaissance Center in Kenya during the Women's History Month. A few days ago, a few days ago, I actually sent an inquiry to her to ask her how the award had impacted her career and how it had impacted her life since then. And she said, and I'll just very quickly read what she said. She said, it's given me more resources to impact lives. Now I can teach more students for free. I don't experience the financial stress anymore because being the Moltena Teacher of the Year has opened up a larger platform for me. So people and organizations are now supporting my efforts in educating the rural community. My children in the classroom now want to teach after seeing the recognition I got from being the Teacher of the Year. They find value in me being the Moltena Teacher of the Year. And that's the end of quote. And that is what giving an award to a deserving teacher can do, not just for the teacher, but for students, their communities, and indeed our nation. So I think that the Nigerian Brew is limited or to be commended for these very thoughtful and impactful annual awards. And also for saying so well what we all ought to be saying to our teachers every day. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. And thank you all very much. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.