Career Day at MindBuilders

If the lot, the pair of Ope Ebetusin and Chiamela Aigbedion appeared to have stolen the show. Decked in their well-ironed police uniform and a pair of black shoes to match, the pair sauntered onto the podium, four others in tow, their toy guns carefully tucked in their left hands. They all saluted, and then waved at the excited parents who were rather dazed with their spectacle.

“My name is Ope Ebetusin. I am a police officer; my duty is to protect lives and properties.” The hall vibrated with cheers. “My name is Chiamela Aigbedion, her female ‘colleague’ interrupted. I am a police officer. My role is to save citizens’ lives and enforce law and order,’ the hall became more boisterous.

And next on stage were the journalists. Aside their formal dressing, the pen and a mock midget tapes each of them displayed, marked their distinguishing features.

“I want to be a journalist because journalists are good writers,” said Ebube Anyoha, a Nursery 1 Alpha pupils of the school’s Omole arm.

“For me,” said Chiamaka Madu from the same class, “I want to be a journalist because journalists advise governments and tell truth to the public.’

But at the maiden Career Day of Mind Builders Schools, Alausa, Lagos, last Saturday, it was not only the quartet that flaunted their careers. Other children also put on various uniforms, clutching tools that connotted varying professions-bankers, lawyers, pilots, fire-fighters, horticulturists, sailors, dieticians, dentists, cobblers, laboratory technologists, musicians, estate managers, opticians, accountants, chefs, theatre artists, journalists, footballers, just name it.

“What do you have for me for breakfast?’ This reporter had asked two-year-old Seth Dernbriggs who looked resplendent in her rather white apparel and cap at the chefs stand. “I will cook you indomie,” the little girl replied excitedly.

And their parents were happy to go round the various stands, taking pictures with their cameras and i-pads, and listening to the ‘young technocrats’ and wooing them on the supremacy of their profession over the others.

“I feel emotional with what I’m seeing today,” said a parent, Mr Augustin Nwagbe, who has three children in the school. It simply means the school is doing its duty well in giving the children the right orientation. I am a civil engineer and my wife is an accountant. What I used to have in mind before is that my children will take after our professions. But what I’m seeing today convinces me to allow them follow the career of their minds.

It’s an exciting and educative experience,” said another parent, Mrs Ajibola Bola with two children in MindBuilders. “It is to broaden the minds of the children and enlighten them on their choice careers.

“In those days, we used to have certain careers that were elevated, such as Law, Medicine, and what have you. But through this Career Day, the message for us parents is to understand the fact that one profession is as important as the other.”

Earlier, MindBuilders Education Director Mrs Bola Falore said the maiden edition followed a rather endless pressure parents put on their children when it comes to career choice.