Itodo Anthony

At the beginning of his career, in a small rural school in Nigeria, not many people understood why Anthony would get a masters degree from a UK university and end up teaching in a village for “peanuts”. But this was part of his mission – to elevate the teaching profession to a place of pride, to show with his own life that the profession is a noble one whose value is not tied to how much we earn. Today, the same people who mocked his decision to teach especially in a rural area are publicly celebrating him and his students’ successes.

When he teaches in class he tries to introduce positive values from other parts of the world to broaden their view of life. When he told them that in some European countries a woman gets half the property at divorce, it shocked them, coming from a culture where gender inequality is grave and women can actually be kicked out of their husband’s homes at will. So he preaches the virtues of justice, institutional soundness, community service, value creation, among others that are elements from other cultures that can help create an ideal value system in Nigerian youth.

In May 2017, Itodo founded a community-based organisation for youths – New Frontiers Youth Forum. This organisation welcomes membership from 13-35 year olds, and the aim is to raise an army of young leaders who will act as positive change agents within the community.

In October 2017, The Forum commissioned a community library. Before this, the community had no library where students and others could study in comfort or have access to resources they couldn’t afford.