Coordinator of South-South Former Legislators Forum, Daniel Reyenieju, has described teacher, Professor Lucky Akaruese, as a rare teacher who never looked for faults in his students, but nurtured their strengths.

Reyenieju said as a teacher, Akaruese did not only inspire but encouraged his students to always do better.

Akaruese, yesterday, formally retired from the University of Port Harcourt after decades of service to knowledge and humanity.

Reyenieju, in a tribute, stated that people who rise to such intellectual heights and dedicate their lives to enlightening others should be appreciated.

He stated: “Professor Akaruese was not just a lecturer in my life. He was first my secondary school Vice-Principal, then my teacher, and eventually my mentor — the man who introduced me to a discipline I had never even heard of before I wrote JAMB: Philosophy.

“Before then, Philosophy was a completely unknown world to me. But through his guidance and encouragement, he opened the door to that profound and abstract universe of thought. For about a year in the university, he continued to nurture my intellectual curiosity before he moved on to the University of Port Harcourt, leaving many of us — myself especially — intellectually restless, searching for deeper understanding in the very course he had introduced us to.

“I had travelled all the way to Port Harcourt specifically to honour him and witness that historic moment. But just as I arrived, I was urgently recalled for another assignment in Imo State. It was one of those painful moments in life when circumstances deny you the opportunity to stand physically with someone you deeply respect. And what a moment it must have been.

“I was told that the lecture hall — with a capacity of nearly 2,000 — was filled to the brim. Students, retired professors, former Vice-Chancellors, colleagues, friends, and members of civil society , also Chiefs from Warri Kingdom all gathered to celebrate a man whose life has been dedicated to shaping minds and expanding intellectual horizons. Hearing this filled me with immense pride.

It reminded me that the true measure of a teacher is not merely in the titles he holds or the papers he publishes, but in the lives he transforms.

Professor Akaruese has done exactly that. He is one of those rare teachers who never seems to look for faults in his students, but instead chooses to nurture their strengths. He inspires rather than intimidates. He encourages rather than dismisses.

“Your retirement may mark the end of formal lectures, but your influence will continue to echo in the many minds you have shaped — mine included.”