Disability has turned to ability for a physically challenged teacher who brings enthusiasm and performances to the teaching of mathematics, resulting in successful outcomes for his students.

In four years, all the students he taught mathematics passed with good grades in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) or the Basic Education Certificate Examination. Mr. Michael Thompson Showunmi has turned his disability into a basis for teaching and inspiring a cohort of students who now take to mathematics with delight.

He walks with the aid of crutches; though life threw stones at him, he has not allowed this to deter his hope and dreams of making sure that his students succeed in the subject.

His success story in teaching mathematics is inspirational. As an assistant maths teacher in Good Shepard School, Lagos, where he taught students in terminal classes, he recorded 100 per cent score in the subject.

For instance, at the 2017 WASSCE, out of the eight students that sat for Further-maths, three had a B3, while five others, scored C. In the 2018 examination, out of seven students that sat for the subject, four had B2, while three others got C. For the 2017 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for students in the junior secondary school, out of the 51 students that sat for the 2018 Mathematics examination, 12 got distinction (A1), 18 had B, while 21 had credit score. In the 2018 and 2019 mathematics examinations, out of the 46 students that sat for the subject, 16 had distinction, 12 had B, and 18 had credit score; six had distinction, 17 had B, while 23 had credit score in both examinations.


The Chemical Engineering graduate of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), said since he started teaching in 2016, he has not felt that he is physically challenged, but has made his disability his ability.