A youth corps member serving at a school in Adamawa has admitted to making a mistake after disciplining a student who answered a math question in Fulani, a language he did not understand.
The corps member, who shared his experience on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), explained that during a lesson, he asked the student to solve a simple subtraction problem, “What is 3 minus 2?”
According to him, the student repeatedly responded with the word “Gotel… Gotel!” However, unfamiliar with the Fulani language, the corps member assumed the student was being unserious or disrespectful, leading him to administer punishment.
Later, he learned from others that “Gotel” means “one” in the Fulani language, meaning the student had actually given the correct answer. Realizing his error, he expressed regret for his actions and promised to apologize.
In his post, he wrote: “Why did NYSC post me to Adamawa when I don’t even know how to speak Fulani? These students don’t understand English either. I asked one boy, ‘What’s 3 minus 2?’ and he just kept shouting ‘Gotel… Gotel!’ I flogged him today.”
Upon discovering his mistake, he quickly followed up with another post: “I was told the meaning of ‘Gotel’ a few minutes after I posted this. Tomorrow, I will have to apologize and give him some biscuits.”
As his post went viral, many users on X reacted to his story, offering different perspectives on language barriers, corporal punishment, and the challenges corps members face when posted to unfamiliar regions.
See some reactions below:
@UTDAhmard: “Why dem go carry corper go primary school..”
@_Gidado_Ai: “Gotel means 1 now 😂😆😆You don bully our brother.”
@abbakarrrh: “You should apologize to am.”
@Abkr_m_yahya: “He’s correct 😭You should have ask him to write what he means.”
@SOTesleem: “Teach them. That’s why you are there. Those kids will thank you for the rest of their lives.”
@FarukUs05104731: “What if he tell his Fada?😹😹..Una don finished be that.”
@NudgeTM: “Flogging a child is potentially child abuse.”
@amannepen: “Must we use English to teach? The moment we adopt using our native language to explain certain topics, you would see how easy it is for the students to understand.”
@AngyaLois: “Not me asking my student to identify some fruits on a picture chat. Gurl touched pineapple and said Auntee abarbar. God abeg.”
@hanwins2008: “You will have to learn Fulfude to be able to teach them, same thing happened to me years ago when I served in the North, I had to learn emergency Hausa and started teaching them in Hausa, it worked.”
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