Mrs. Mabel Olufunke Aiyewumi
Mrs. Mabel Olufunke Aiyewumi is a highly resourceful academic and school administrator. She is an expert in the teaching of English and French languages. She had a meritorious career as a teacher at the Kaduna Polytechnic, where she retired as Principal Lecturer in 2012. She is currently the Proprietress of Mabela Day Care and Nursery School which is located in the Maitama District of Abuja.
Mabel Aiyewumi was born on November 11, 1947 on the Lagos Island. She is a product of Anglican Girls School, Lagos (1953 – 1959) and Anglican Girls Grammar School, also in Lagos (1960 – 1965). She bagged a Diploma in French Phonetics from the University of Besancon, France in 1971. She studied at the University of Lagos where she earned the National Certificate in Education (English and French) and the B.A. (Edu.) French and English in 1970 and 1978 respectively.
She obtained further training in the mastery and teaching of French Language and Culture in different institutions in Togo and Benin Republic. Between July and November 1967, she was at the Institute National des Langues Belleue, Conakry II, Republic of Guinea.
Her career in teaching dates back to 1970 when she was employed at Aunty Ayo’s Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Lagos. Having completed the mandatory National Youth Service at the Kaduna Polytechnic, she was offered employment by the same institution in 1986. She was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication and Languages between 1986 and 1995 and rose to the position of Principal Lecturer. She left Kadpoly in 2012 having reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 years.
Mrs. Aiyewumi indeed had an interesting working life. Aside from her official classroom duties, she excelled in several administrative and ad-hoc functions. She was involved in the teaching and coaching of foreign students from Niger, Guniea-Bissau and Burkina Faso. She taught them intensive English Language skills to aid their communication and interaction with speakers of the language. She was responsible for the design of the French Syllabus for the Federal Government French Aided Programme at Kadpoly.
She served as Chairman of the School’s Committee for the Designing of the English Language Programme Syllabus for professionals. She was also involved in moderating various departmental examinations for different cadres of civil servants especially in the Northern part of Nigeria.
She served as Acting Head of Department and a member of the Administrative and Business Forum of the College of Administrative and Business Studies. She was a resource person to the National Commission for Colleges of Education Accreditation Team between 2004 and 2008.
A prolific academic, she has several research and conference publications to her credit. She is the author of a booklet titled An Introduction to the Principles of Language Testing which was published in 1993. Among her popular research publications are: “Critical Appraisal of the Adoption of French as a Second Official Language” and “A Technical Report Contrastive Analysis Involving Phonological Features of the English and Yoruba Languages”.
She belongs to several professional bodies including the African Council on Communication Education (ACCE), the Association for Promoting Quality Education in Nigeria (APQEN), the Women in Technical Education (WITED), World Organisation for Early Childhood Education (OMEP), the English Language Teachers’ Association Nigeria (ELTAN) and the Nigerian Institute of Management Chartered (MNIM).
Mrs. Aiyewumi is a life member of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International, Abuja. She is a bonafide member of the National Association of Proprietors of Private schools. As the President of the Police Officers’ Wives Association (POWA) in Port Harcourt, she carried out the launch and take–off of police primary schools across Rivers State in 1987.
She is happily married and enjoys reading, listening to music, travelling and communicating with people as hobbies.She was honoured with the PSR Woman of Merit Gold Award in 2014.