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This year’s World Teachers’ Day takes on a special light for us. From the first generation of students of the great Ede Muslim Grammar School, including the incumbent governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, to several groups of students of the Osun State Polytechnic, as well as numerous admirers of Dr. Mojeed Adekunle Lawal, today presents an auspicious opportunity to applaud and celebrate an inspiring TEACHER, leader and mentor. It’s another World Teachers’ Day.
Mr Lawal, Boda Mojeed or Baba Lawal, depending on which generation of his beneficiaries you belong to, have made yet another history this year. Al-Hikmah University has found our great mentor best suited for the Doctor of Philosophy in Peace and Security Studies award. Therefore he will henceforth be better referred to as Dr Majeed Lawal or Majeed Lawal, PhD.
Incidentally, Dr Lawal had produced doctorate holders before deciding to formally seek one. It’s not an honorary thing either. Demystifying the hurdles of age-related challenges and social inhibitions of multiple responsibilities, our Oga chose to put in all the sweat of endless research and fact-checking, otherwise called research, to obtain his PhD.
Far from being boastful, the 3rd of April 2025 modestly announced this to me via a short whatsapp message: “Salaam. I am happy to inform you that I completed my doctoral program yesterday. Alhamdulilah” I too echoed alhamdulilah at my end and felt filled with joy. “Congratulations sir. An idiot Olohun o! We can’t thank Allah enough…”
At the height of excitement, I called Boda immediately. The officialdom dating back to 1976, when it taught us history, has since given way. He excused this to inspire us so that we could relate more informally as he monitored our progress until our final year at EMGS even while he was in Zaria where he earned his first degree.
“Oo gbo, ko rorun, but I had decided that I wanted the doctorate. I willingly surrendered to all the traumatic back and forth directives of my supervisor and the countless participants of the doctoral seminar series. But here we are today. The experience is worth it. Respect to all the doctoral holders,” said Dr. Lawal as I smiled gratefully to Allah for this spectacular achievement, one in the city, one in a generation.
Once the call ended, my mind returned to the combination of discipline and industry that this great teacher had demonstrated when teaching us History. His scholarly recollection of the great empires of the past was as engaging as it was inspiring, taking us, with annotated maps, on a virtual exploration of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers without having ever been near the historic region.
Often wearing short-sleeved shirts paired with wool trousers over his favorite skull half-shoes, Boda was gifted with a voice so sonorous and captivating that it could be mistaken for that of a woman. Although we held an ordinary level certificate at that time, we had assumed that he would teach us further in 1978. That was the same year that Oga left for Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria for his graduation. However, what is most incontrovertible is that our teacher’s life remains a living textbook of resilience, leadership and lifelong learning.
As a lecturer at Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, from 1999 until his retirement in 2020, Dr Lawal left deep footprints in two departments: General Studies and Mass Communication. He taught courses ranging from the Sociology of the Family to the Mass Media and Society, always reminding his students that knowledge is not only to be acquired but to be applied conscientiously. His service went beyond the classroom: he chaired committees, directed programs, mentored young academics, and carried out the responsibility of leadership with humility.
What makes his story even more remarkable today is that retirement did not mark the end of his learning journey. Instead, it opened a new chapter. At 70, the age at which most people would prefer to look back with some complacency, Dr. Lawal looked forward, earning a Ph.D. His doctoral thesis on Creporting sensitive to political and religious conflicts in Osun state it is not only a testament to his scholarship, but also to his enduring commitment to peace, justice and the well-being of society. With all the disturbing and all-pervading unrest, who can deny the fort from his experience that he would support the rule of his former student, now governor of Osun State.
Through decades of service, publications and speaking engagements that have taken him as far away as Toronto and Baltimore, Dr. Lawal has consistently demonstrated that teaching is not a career but a calling. His writings on conflict, communication, culture, and development continue to enrich scholarship and guide practice in Nigeria and beyond.
As we celebrate World Teachers’ Day, we do so with immense pride in a man who lived the creed of education: to lead, serve and learn endlessly. Dr. Lawal’s life reminds us that the best teachers don’t retire: they evolve. Our Mr. Lawal has evolved from being simply Mr. Lawal to Dr. Lawal. The world in this age of the Internet intertwined with the virality of social media with the speed that accompanies it should take note with due reverence to our inimitable Dr. Majeed Adekunle Lawal.
To a relentless leader, a relentless student and a relentless teacher we say: Happy Teachers’ Day, Dr. Mojeed Adekunle Lawal. May your story continue to inspire generations to come, especially as you often speak highly of your own teachers, too.
During a recent conversation, Dr Lawal lamented the recent death of his primary school teacher popularly known as Imam Dende, until recently the eldest of all Imams of Central Mosques in Osun State. Imam Dende had taught Dr Lawal at the renowned Young Tajudeen Agbangudu Primary School, Ede, Osun State. According to Dr Lawal, former students of Imam Dende include Professor Iysa Ade Bello, a pioneering scholar of Sharia law at Lagos State University and Osun State University, now the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State.
Born in Ede on March 25, 1955, Dr Lawal has spent seven decades shaping minds, cultivating futures and exemplifying what it means to be a teacher for life. His thirst for knowledge took him through the halls of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and later the University of Ibadan, where he honed his passion for communication, journalism and sociology. But it wasn’t just his qualifications – bachelor’s, master’s, diploma and finally doctorate – that defined him. It’s the way he taught, guided and inspired.
