By Peter Dansu Badagry was awash with warm emotions on Thursday as one of its illustrious sons, Dr Seun Williams, an Assistant Professor ...
By Peter Dansu
Badagry was awash with warm emotions on
Thursday as one of its illustrious sons, Dr Seun Williams, an Assistant Professor at One Health at University College Dublin, National University of Ireland, poured out his heart in celebration of his mother’s retirement from the Lagos State civil service.
In a deeply touching Facebook post, Dr Williams paid tribute to his mother, Mrs Adébísí Àbíkẹ́, fondly known as Ìyá Alátẹ, who completed a meritorious career in the Lagos State teaching service. Her journey, he noted, started from the very bottom rung but ended with grace, honour and fulfilled purpose.
He wrote with unmistakable pride:
Tíṣà ni Ìyá Pòfésọ̀ — the professor’s mother is a teacher.
The Badagry-born scholar recounted how his mother spent the past four years teaching Kindergarten 1 and 2 at Muslim Primary School, Badagry, the very same school where he began his own educational journey. Even more symbolic, she retired in the exact classroom where he once sat as a little boy learning to read and write.
But her path to accomplishment was not without struggle. Dr Williams revealed how, as a young girl, she was barred from registering for her WASSCE examinations due to patriarchal and discriminatory family influences, a setback that could have altered her destiny. Yet, despite the barriers she faced, she rose above them and became the proud mother of an academic who has now made a name on the global stage.
He wrote:
Despite being barred from sitting for her WASSCE exams in her late teens, no thanks to patriarchy and misogyny, Ìyá Alátẹ is today the mother of a young professor. I must re-emphasise that: Adébísí, Àwórì Ọmọ Aládé Onílogbò Erémi, is today the mother of a professor!
Dr Williams ended his message with a heartfelt prayer for her happiness and wellbeing, writing:
All I wish for her is a happy retirement in good health and boundless bliss.
His emotional tribute has warmed hearts across Badagry and beyond, with many praising Mrs Àbíkẹ́’s resilience and celebrating her story as one that reflects the strength of countless Nigerian women whose sacrifices paved the way for the successes of their children.
For Badagry, the retirement of Ìyá Pòfésọ̀ is more than a personal family milestone, it is a reminder of the power of education, perseverance and the enduring honour of motherhood.
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