Nigeria, March 6 -- The word 'Headmaster' has a reputation in Nigeria for being associated with a stern, tough, extremely disciplined, uncompromising and no-nonsense individual who people find difficult to break or bend and who will always insist on the right things to be done for the common good, irrespective of what individuals and vested interests want. From the colonial days to the post-colonial period, the education system in Nigeria has emphasised the existence of one big man called 'Headmaster,' who is more feared than loved and whose roar sends jitters down the spines of teachers and other school officials.

When pupils sight his conspicuous eye glasses, coat, shoe or cane from a kilometre way, they scale the fence, run into their...