The Lekki Headmaster Chapter 2 Questions and Answers

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The Lekki Headmaster Chapter 2 Questions and Answers

Chapter 2

The Enticement

AFTER five days of interrogation and frustration, Mr Bepo opened up. He was leaving Nigeria for the United Kingdom. He could no longer withstand the pressure to relocate, as his foot-dragging over the matter had pushed his marriage to the brink. He very much loved Stardom Schools, especially his students. He cared about them and wanted to continually be part of their growth. He found no sense in leaving them behind in a developing nation to join the crowd working to further advance the United Kingdom, a developed country. But his family also weighed on his mind. In the war to win him over, his wife, Seri, had conscripted Nike and Kike, their two children, who, all the while, had been with her. He just had to quit and join them. Fortunately, he had already secured a teaching job in the UK.

Of the two-plus decades Bepo spent at Stardom Schools, he was Headmaster at Stardom Kiddies – the nursery/primary arm – for four years. The foundation school remained constant in his professional history mainly because of the nickname it bequeathed to him: Lekki Headmaster.

Apart from the fact that he sometimes mimicked the Village Headmaster in the old TV drama series, once upon a time, some of the teachers under him became quarrelsome. Hardly would two weeks pass without a conflict being brought to his office for resolution. Given his humanistic and empathetic disposition, he often accommodated their agitation and even their pettiness, and he resolved the issues. One day, during a staff meeting to settle yet another quarrel, the clownish teacher, Mr Audu, joked about Bepo’s disposition: “The way the headmaster masterly resolves these fights reminds me of the way King Oloja, in Village Headmaster, resolved all the roforofo brought by his chiefs and villagers. So, as they had their own Village Headmaster, we also have our own Lekki Headmaster.”

Expectedly, laughter ensued. But there was more. The label stuck, and the many years that passed by did not change it. Even after Bepo became the principal at the secondary school, many still loved to call him ‘The Lekki Headmaster’.

A good number of Mr Bepo’s colleagues at Stardom found his reaction concerning the impending relocation funny: extremely funny. Of course, what they had in mind was that it was stupid. How could anyone have such a golden opportunity and yet be sad and reluctant, considering that thousands of people sacrificed everything they had to travel overseas? His case was even enviable, they thought. He did not have to borrow or steal money to make the journey. He did not have to present a fake wife at the embassy. And, in the UK, he would not have to look for a menial job like washing dishes.

Seri was a nurse. Rumour had it that she earned up to £10,000 per month (a whopping gbemu of more than N17m, Bepo’s colleagues swiftly multiplied). The teaching job he got promised about £3,600 and other entitlements. As principal, his salary at Stardom was about N400,000. And which was bigger: 400,000 feeble naira or almost 4,000 heavy British pounds? They converted the latter to about N6,000,000, at about N1,700 for a pound. Why would any rational being develop cold feet towards such a life-changing offer?

“But let us not forget that he will not spend the wage in naira. He will spend it in pounds. This is one factor many of us fail to take into consideration,” said Mr Oyelana during a gossip session. But Audu had a contrary view.

“Dump that argument!” he exclaimed. “No matter how much of it he spends in pounds, he will still have a lot to send to Nigeria.” The Fine Arts teacher explained: “Just imagine: if he sends £1,000 to Naija every month, that is over N1.7m. You want to compare the Bepo that saves N1.7m monthly to the one that earns N400,000 as salary? Are they on the same level? The principal knows all of these and still insists he is not leaving. I think Stardom’s management has jazzed him. This is unnatural. I have to find his wife’s home address.”

“And what will you do if you find it?” Oyelana asked, bemused.
“I will beg her to adopt me as husband. In fact, I’m leaving for the airport RIGHT NOW!” Audu said.

He stood up immediately, picked a few books off his table, pushed them under his armpit, and walked out of the staffroom, declaring: “I am heading to the airport for the next flight.”

His colleagues roared with laughter. Of course, everyone heard the bell. Mr Audu was already late for his next class.

Bepo planned to retire from Stardom at the age of 55. That was still four years away. He had been thinking seriously about retirement life. He had begun attending seminars on entrepreneurship: this was what he wanted to spend the remaining slice of his days on. He loved the freedom and confidence successful businessmen enjoy, though business enterprise harbours peculiar challenges. Bepo also loved to develop fellow men and his country. He pictured himself in a position where he also could employ workers, no matter how modestly, and give people an opportunity to earn a living and pay taxes to the government. It was one of the tips he learnt at seminars. According to one of his coaches, no employee should dream big about comfort or bank too much on job security. Only a business owner could afford to do so, especially when the business had become successful.

Bepo would also not mind establishing a school. After all, he had garnered
much experience in teaching and school management. Besides, he was a trained teacher who studied English/History Education at the University of Benin. This projection would allow him to push his passion for moulding the young. His only reservation was that he wondered if he would have enough capital to float a standard school, given the taste he had already imbibed at Stardom. He recalled that a major principle of entrepreneurship is starting small. He did not object to this, but experience had taught him a lesson: the facility should be in an area where parents could pay for the kind of education he wanted to provide. He could not forget in a hurry how a neighbourhood school – Fruitful Future – which he established alongside a friend, shortly after his National Youth Service, crumbled due to socioeconomic challenges in the location. Of course, he knew his wife would not fund any project that would hold him down in Nigeria.

Bepo considered farming, food, and sachet or bottled water businesses. But he also had a substantial inclination towards commercial transportation. He believed it was a business someone with minimal capital could begin with. An option he could readily chew over was buying a bus or a cab and leasing it to a driver. A fact about transportation, he knew, was that you begin to make money from the first day the vehicle is purchased. It is not like farming, where you have to wait till the end of a season or cycle before your seeds or animals begin to yield. It is not like retail or distribution business either, where, after getting a shop, you have to wait for customers to show up – customers who already had their preferred vendors before you arrived. Besides, in many cases, you need to earn the buyers’ trust before they patronise you. However, when running a cab or bus, passengers have no loyalty to any driver or vehicle. Bepo knew: the newer your cab, the more attractive it is to commuters.

The problem with transportation, he learnt, was that many commercial drivers one would have loved to engage with did not appreciate best practices. They were not trustworthy and often ended up ruining one’s dream. At least three staff members at Stardom ventured into it and regretted doing so. The drivers frustrated the idea, defaulted on payment, and often told lies that the autos broke down. On some occasions, they colluded with mechanics to defraud vehicle owners. Despite these sour details, Bepo kept the option open. He believed there could still be a way out. There were, for instance, people who bought vehicles and let them out to drivers, who, in turn, paid in instalments. He also felt that if big transport companies like ABC Motors and God is Good Motors could operate successfully, there must be a way around the challenges.

Of course, he did not need to worry again about those entrepreneurship dreams. He was set to renew his teaching career in a new environment, a new country where he would earn more and share a new life with Seri, Nike and Kike. He knew life anywhere was not a bed of roses, and every place harbours

its challenges. He read the story of a Nigerian teacher who got rattled the first day he walked into a class in a UK school. One of the students was said to have asked: “Are you an idiot?” Yet, if true, Bepo knew that such an incident must be an isolated experience of migrants to Europe. And a good teacher should be able to handle that diplomatically.

The Lekki Headmaster Chapter 2 Questions and Answers

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THE LEKKI HEADMASTER – CHAPTER 2: THE ENTICEMENT

Why did Mr. Bepo decide to leave Nigeria for the United Kingdom?
A) To pursue a better teaching career
B) To escape pressure from his colleagues
C) To resolve marital issues and join his family
D) To start a new business venture
What was the primary reason Mr. Bepo was reluctant to leave Stardom Schools?
A) His love for his students and involvement in their growth
B) The high salary he earned as principal
C) His ambition to become a school owner
D) The fear of not finding a new job in the UK
Who had “conscripted Nike and Kike” to influence Mr. Bepo’s decision?
A) Mr. Audu
B) Mr. Oyelana
C) Seri
D) King Oloja
Before becoming principal at the secondary school, what was Mr. Bepo’s role at Stardom Kiddies?
A) A teacher
B) A proprietor
C) Headmaster
D) A counselor
How long had Mr. Bepo been Headmaster at Stardom Kiddies?
A) Two decades
B) Four years
C) Five days
D) Many years
What nickname was Mr. Bepo given due to his role at Stardom Kiddies?
A) The Village Headmaster
B) The Clownish Teacher
C) The Lekki Headmaster
D) The Empathetic Headmaster
Mr. Audu compared Mr. Bepo’s conflict resolution style to that of which character?
A) Seri
B) King Oloja
C) Nike
D) Mr. Oyelana
What was the initial reaction of Mr. Bepo’s colleagues to his reluctance to relocate?
A) Understanding
B) Support
C) Amusement and disbelief
D) Anger
What was Seri’s profession?
A) Teacher
B) Entrepreneur
C) Nurse
D) Housewife
According to rumour, how much did Seri earn per month in the UK?
A) £3,600
B) N400,000
C) N17m
D) £10,000
What was Mr. Bepo’s promised salary for the teaching job in the UK?
A) N400,000
B) £10,000
C) £3,600
D) N6,000,000
What was Mr. Bepo’s salary as principal at Stardom Schools?
A) N17m
B) N400,000
C) £3,600
D) N6,000,000
At what exchange rate did Mr. Bepo’s colleagues convert British pounds to Naira?
A) N17m for £10,000
B) N1,700 for a pound
C) N400,000 for £3,600
D) N6,000,000 for £4,000
What argument did Mr. Oyelana put forward regarding Mr. Bepo’s UK wage?
A) He would spend it all in Naira.
B) He would spend it in pounds, affecting its comparative value.
C) He would not save any of it.
D) He would send most of it to Nigeria.
What did Audu exclaim when dismissing Oyelana’s argument?
A) “You are an idiot!”
B) “Dump that argument!”
C) “I’m leaving for the airport!”
D) “This is unnatural!”
How much did the Fine Arts teacher suggest Mr. Bepo could send to Nigeria monthly if he sent £1,000?
A) N400,000
B) N1.7m
C) N6,000,000
D) N17m
What extreme action did Audu jokingly threaten to take if he found Seri’s home address?
A) Beg her to adopt him as a husband.
B) Report her to Stardom’s management.
C) Demand a raise for himself.
D) Expose Bepo’s reluctance.
What was Audu’s immediate action after his joke about Seri?
A) He sat down, satisfied.
B) He stood up and walked out, declaring he was going to the airport.
C) He continued the gossip session.
D) He apologised to his colleagues.
Why did Audu’s colleagues roar with laughter at the end of the gossip session?
A) Because he was late for class.
B) Because of his funny remark about Seri.
C) Because Bepo entered the staffroom.
D) Because the bell rang.
At what age did Bepo plan to retire from Stardom?
A) 50
B) 55
C) 60
D) 65
What was Mr. Bepo’s primary focus for his retirement life?
A) Continuing his teaching career
B) Becoming a full-time husband
C) Entrepreneurship
D) Traveling the world
What was one of the key lessons Mr. Bepo learned from entrepreneurship seminars?
A) Employees should dream big about comfort.
B) Job security is paramount.
C) Only business owners can afford to dream big about comfort and security.
D) Starting big is always better.
What kind of education did Mr. Bepo study at the University of Benin?
A) Fine Arts
B) Business Management
C) English/History Education
D) Nursery/Primary Education
What was Mr. Bepo’s reservation about establishing his own standard school?
A) Lack of experience
B) Insufficient capital for a standard facility
C) Fear of competition
D) His wife’s refusal to fund it
What was the name of the neighbourhood school Mr. Bepo established that crumbled?
A) Stardom Kiddies
B) Lekki Headmaster College
C) Fruitful Future
D) Village Headmaster Academy
What was the main reason the neighbourhood school crumbled?
A) Poor management
B) Lack of qualified teachers
C) Socioeconomic challenges in the location
D) Too much competition
Which of these business ventures did Mr. Bepo not consider for retirement?
A) Farming
B) Food business
C) Real estate
D) Sachet or bottled water businesses
What business did Mr. Bepo have a “substantial inclination towards”?
A) Retail and distribution
B) Commercial transportation
C) School ownership
D) Agriculture
What was the advantage Mr. Bepo saw in the transportation business?
A) High customer loyalty
B) Immediate returns on investment
C) Minimal capital requirement
D) Easy management of drivers
Which of these is not a problem Mr. Bepo identified with commercial transportation drivers?
A) Not appreciating best practices
B) Trustworthiness
C) Defaulting on payment
D) Colluding with mechanics (He did identify this as a problem, so this is the incorrect option)
How did Mr. Bepo feel about the sour details of the transportation business?
A) He dismissed the option entirely.
B) He kept the option open, believing there could be a way out.
C) He decided to invest immediately.
D) He sought advice from the drivers involved.
What was the alternative model Mr. Bepo considered for transportation businesses with drivers?
A) Daily wage payment
B) Drivers paying in instalments for the vehicles
C) Monthly rental of vehicles
D) Drivers managing their own vehicles
What two big transport companies did Mr. Bepo mention as successful examples?
A) XYZ Logistics and Speedy Deliveries
B) ABC Motors and God is Good Motors
C) Trans-Global and City Movers
D) Elite Transport and Swift Rides
What was Mr. Bepo’s new environment for his renewed teaching career?
A) Back at Stardom Schools
B) A new school in Nigeria
C) The United Kingdom
D) Another African country
What did Mr. Bepo believe about life anywhere in the world?
A) It’s always a bed of roses.
B) It’s free of challenges.
C) It harbours its challenges.
D) It’s always easier overseas.
What was the rude question a UK student reportedly asked a Nigerian teacher on his first day?
A) “Where are you from?”
B) “Can you speak English?”
C) “Are you an idiot?”
D) “What’s your name?”
How did Mr. Bepo interpret the incident of the rude student?
A) As a common occurrence for migrants.
B) As a sign of disrespect in UK schools.
C) As an isolated experience.
D) As a reason not to migrate.
According to the text, what quality should a good teacher possess to handle such incidents?
A) Strictness
B) Diplomacy
C) Emotional resilience
D) Aggression
The word “conscripted” in the text most nearly means:
A) Opposed
B) Enlisted or recruited
C) Questioned
D) Abandoned
The phrase “foot-dragging over the matter” implies Mr. Bepo was:
A) Enthusiastic
B) Deliberate and slow to act
C) Running away
D) Injured
What does “roforofo” mean in the context of the story?
A) Celebrations
B) Conflicts or quarrels
C) Feasts
D) Speeches
The term “gbemu” is used to quantify Seri’s earnings. What does it signify in this context?
A) A small amount
B) A typical salary
C) A surprisingly large amount
D) An imaginary figure
What does “jazzed him” mean in Audu’s statement, “I think Stardom’s management has jazzed him”?
A) Made him famous
B) Paid him a huge bonus
C) Bewitched or hypnotized him
D) Convinced him logically
What did Mr. Bepo mean by “developing nation” when referring to Nigeria?
A) A country with no progress
B) A country still growing economically and infrastructurally
C) A country rich in natural resources
D) A country focused on education
The “humanistic and empathetic disposition” of Mr. Bepo suggests he was:
A) Self-centered and uncaring
B) Understanding and compassionate
C) Strict and unyielding
D) Ambitious and driven
When Bepo “developed cold feet” towards the UK offer, it means he:
A) Became excited
B) Became scared or hesitant
C) Got sick
D) Felt indifferent
The description of Mr. Audu as “clownish” implies he was:
A) Serious and stern
B) Humorous and playful
C) Angry and resentful
D) Shy and reserved
What does Mr. Bepo mean by “life anywhere was not a bed of roses”?
A) Life is always easy.
B) Life is full of pleasures.
C) Life has its difficulties and challenges.
D) Life is better in some places than others.
What was Mr. Bepo’s primary motivation for considering establishing a school for his retirement?
A) To make a lot of money quickly.
B) To continue moulding the young and applying his teaching experience.
C) To compete with Stardom Schools.
D) To prove his entrepreneurial skills.
Based on the chapter, what is the central conflict Mr. Bepo faces?
A) Financial struggles and poverty.
B) A choice between his family’s desire for relocation and his personal attachment to his current work and country.
C) Disagreements with his colleagues.
D) The challenge of starting a new business.