I call him my TEACHER: Gratitude...

Hello friends! I bring greetings from my motherland Nigeria. I remain your humble colleague, @kingdouglas. In this article, I want to express my sincere gratitude to my English TEACHER.

Each time I pick up my pen and papers to write, I always think of my Teacher. When people make good comments on my posts, and applaud my writing skills, I always give credit to my Teacher. Sometimes people would call just to give me commendations; I like the way you write, I love reading your posts, how did you manage to create all these stories and etc., The first thought would be my Teacher.

Professor Okon Udo Akpan - Emeritus, Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Uyo, Nigeria. My TEACHER is my Hero! I respect you Sir! Prof. Okon taught me English Syntax at undergraduate level (83- '86) at the University of Uyo. He was, of course, Dr. Okon at that time.

I call him my TEACHER and highlight "teacher" in full caps because Prof. taught me more than conjugations and inflections etc. He taught me "Syntax of Reality." Dr. Okon would come into his English Syntax class and spend the first 10 minutes teaching us what was wrong with the military government and our society.

He taught us what real life and living were outside the "protection" of the campus and our lives as students. He was a celebrated columnist at Nathaniel Boma's Newswatch... a must-read for young Africans at this time.

He endured harassment by Babangida's and Abacha's secret service people...all because of his open criticism of their governments and policies. The last time l saw Prof. was in 2014 when I visited him at his office in Abuja. But I had the privilege of talking to him by phone a few times in recent years.

Last week, Udo Akpan (Splash Inspiration FM, Uyo) and I paid him a visit at his residence in Uyo. Wow! Can you believe he is 67? The spring in his steps...the upright gait... the sharp memory...the ease with which he recalled quotations, book titles and authors.. The stories...Tai Solarin...Yemi Ogunbiyi...Osofisan, Stanley Macebuh..etc... And then Kongi himself.

Oga referred to Prof. Wole Soyinka as "My Teacher"! And quickly added: "He is still my teacher." Wow!

I know Soyinka taught him in class but he wasn't talking about academics. I know he was taling about a lot more than academics. My own TEACHER has a TEACHER!

He gave me two of his recent books and graciously autographed them. Thank you sir for your time and for the wisdom you imparted in my life.

Friends, today is his Birthday, Celebrate Him.