Mr Theo Akrobotu was not just a teacher in my school. He was my academic father. And that’s why I call him Daddy.
He never taught in my class, but he played a role, perhaps more than any of my teachers.
He helped significantly transform our school at Asutsuare Junction (which I’ve talked about in the past) and for me, he was my main catapult out of the village.
After JSS, my mother and I had no way of finding admission to Senior High School. Mr. Akrobortu led us to Tema Secondary School and after some sweet-talking and my mother going on her knees with a few tears, the late Headmistress, Eunice Quansah offered me admission.
I was a few weeks late because School started when I joined.
When the school gave us the prospectus, I knew nothing about the content. Mr Akrobortu took me to Ashaiman and helped me buy the items which included pyjamas- a word I was hearing for the first time.
He kept the items in his bungalow until the day I was going to school.
On my first day in Temasco, he led my mum, my sister and myself to the school and ensured I went through the admission process smoothly.
In fact, he filled the part of my forms that should have been done by my father who himself was not in the school with us.
I attained one of the best results (aggregate 12) and qualified for District Scholarship but I didn’t know anything about it.
He took me to an Internet Cafe in Ashaiman where we wrote the application letter which he took to our District capital, Dodowa and secured a 3 year Scholarship for me.
Throughout my stay in Temasco, he’d come and visit. And to this day, I still use his personal P. O Box address since he gave it to me in 2003.
He attended my wedding and the naming ceremonies of my children. He was at my graduation at GIJ and would always check on my progress in life.
Mr Akrobortu was not my direct teacher but he plucked me out of my class and made me his personal project and helped me grow to this level.
So when I decided to #RewardMyTeachers, I knew that a new television set and some money in an envelope was not enough for my Daddy.
So I dived into my Savings Account and bought him an 8-Day vacation package to Qatar and Dubai where he went to chill small.
I met him at the airport on his return and he told me, it’s not true that a Teacher’s Reward was only in heaven because he just visited something heavenly.
