My Journey to Academia

Cornelius Nwoga was born into a family that valued education and overcame significant challenges to become a doctoral graduate. Now, he dedicates himself to fostering a supportive and inclusive academic environment, ensuring his students receive the mentorship they need.

I was born in 1984 as a sixth child and third son to the family of Ichie and Lolo Ignatius Ogbuja Williams Nwoga (both of blessed memories) in a small village of Ovoko-Agu in Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria and I later had two younger siblings. My parents were not graduates but only possessed Teacher Training College (TCII) qualifications which qualified them to teach in primary school and later retire at headmaster/headmistress level. Despite not being a graduate, my father had da eep passion for education in general and agriculture in particular. The considerable pressure on my father, being the only child of his mother, to marry and start bearing children, meant that he had to abort his dream of going to the university to acquire a degree in agriculture. This pushed my father to make a vow that all his children must become university graduates and that one must be an agriculturist. He threatened to disown any of his children who failed to acquire a university education.

My community only had a primary school, no secondary school. My primary education took place there. For my secondary education, I attended a school in a neighboring community. This choice followed my mother’s decision not to allow me to accept a scholarship from the Federal Government of Nigeria, which was awarded to me for a spot at a Federal Government College in Minna, Niger State, due to my young age.

Following the completion of my secondary education, I encountered a barrier in taking the qualifying examination for university admission due to my father’s retirement and my mother’s lack of enthusiasm towards education. I had to wait for one year before taking the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Examination which I used to gain admission into the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) to study Animal Science. Even though it was against my wishes, it fulfilled my father’s wishes.

If God makes you a blade of grass on the seashore, try to shine above rest. Despite my personal aversion to animal science, I held firm in the belief that graduating with a strong academic standing was imperative to avoid any sense of failure. I never wanted to go to UNN due to its proximity but that was the only school when considering affordability. Some of my classmates were kids of staff of the university and in class, they always discussed how they would get jobs immediately after graduation. I had no prospect for that since my father had no ties with the university.

My academic aspirations took off when I approached the threshold of earning first-class honors during my undergraduate years. However, a setback ensued due to influences that contested departmental ownership. Consequently, my grades were adjusted to second-class honors (upper division). My grades were later slashed and fell back to second-class honors (upper division). A concerned member of my department, out of pity asked me to purchase a form for my master’s study after which he will help make me a graduate assistant in the department. This, I did but the persecution persisted almost until I finished my doctorate. At each point when the university recruited staff members, the department said I was not qualified while they were bringing in unqualified people who had probably engaged in corruption.

My pursuit of a doctorate was marked by challenges, notably the loss of my father—a pillar of my educational journey—shortly before my completion of the master’s program. What pushed me to embark on the program was that I felt my father did so much for me and I wanted a little addition to that. Shortly before I concluded my Ph.D program, I was offered an appointment as an assistant lecturer in the department and that became an important event in my academic journey. Since I assumed office, I have supervised ten undergraduates, I currently supervise one master’s student and I assist doctoral students.

Embracing my humanity and being a strong supervisor

Humanity is the quality of being kind to people by making sure they do not suffer more than is necessary. I am empathic towards supervision. I recognize the background of every student and even tend to bring them together and formulate a research topic that will be more in-depth and cost less. I take the lead at all levels, exhibit professionalism, and seek for collaboration where necessary. I give all my students equal opportunities and encourage each one to improve.

Line between personal involvement with students and maintaining professional boundaries

Personal involvement and professional boundaries are captured in a healthy mentor-mentee relationship. I exhibit professionalism at all stages of the supervision by serving as a guide and support to the mentee. I do the following:

I remain focused on the professional and personal development of the mentee;
I act based on the mentee’s expressed needs;
I am driven by the specific learning agenda identified by the mentee;
I keep our relationships within what is approved; and
I maintain confidentiality when necessary.

At the same time, I refuse to do the following:

fix the research problem on behalf of the student;
take credit;
takeover;
threaten, coerce, or use undue influence;
loose critical oversight – allow friendship to cloud judgment; and

This is because mistakes or reneging on agreements are not career-altering disasters.

Qualities of a Humane Supervisor

A humane supervisor should have the following qualities:

must be genuinely interested in the student’s project;
can provide mentorship and has a supportive personality;
has sufficient time to provide adequate supervision;
is active in the research field;
has a strong publication record; and
has a track record of supervising doctorate students to completion.

How I approach inclusivity and authenticity in supervising doctoral students

Inclusive supervision embodies a purposeful strategy grounded in a perspective of multicultural proficiency. Inclusion entails creating an atmosphere where we and others feel belong, welcomed, and invited despite our differences or whether we make mistakes. Thus, an inclusive environment is one that is safe and encourages everyone to show up fully; an environment that provides courage for everyone to participate wholeheartedly.

On the other hand, authenticity implies a commitment to one’s innate personality, values, and essence, despite external pressures that might otherwise dictate behavior. You are honest with yourself and with others and you take responsibility for your mistakes. Your values, ideals, and actions align.

I strive for inclusivity and authenticity throughout the doctoral student supervision process. To address inclusivity, I ask the students to choose research topics and bringthem up for discussion. The interaction will give me an insight into how academically sound s/he is. I allow mentees to do the following:

take the initiative while maintaining the standard;
look for opportunities to teach me;
be respectful of my time;
communicate agenda and goals with me prior to the meeting;
clarify goals and expectations;
have other mentors; and
clarify their views.

All of the above will be well articulated, a work plan is developed by the mentee, targets are set and evaluations and feedbacks follow.

My heritage and the supervisory process

I inherited authenticity from my father who so many people considered to be too strict. He will always spell out the rules of engagement in any undertaking you have with him and disobedience attracted serious sanctions. Coming to my academic background, the supervisory processes from my bachelor’s degree to my doctorate were nightmarish. They were enmeshed in rancor, unpreparedness/unwillingness to supervise, and non-collaboration in research work. A professor will tell you that because his supervisor kept him in a program for five years instead of about two or three years, you must equally spend a minimum of five years irrespective of the duration of your fieldwork or when you completed your coursework and thesis. I noticed that a seed of discord was planted in them by their supervisors and the anger was being transmitted unconsciously through generations of supervision.

When I got an appointment with the university, I resolved to do things differently. I set out to graduate my master’s student in 16 months and we developed a work plan for that. I collaborate with colleagues to navigate through difficult areas. I started appealing, on getting an appointment, to the consciences of my colleagues, and gradually, their style of supervision changed.

My perception of humane supervision and why it is important

Humane supervision involves all the supervisory steps necessary to eradicate all barriers to smooth and effective supervision. In other words, it means supervising to a conclusion. It entails being empathic and making sure that students do not suffer unnecessary delays in their academic pursuits. It is exemplified in a good mentor-mentee relationship.

Due to my own unfavorable experience with supervision, I hold the belief that the most effective means of eliminating such issues is to nurture doctoral students with care. This approach will eventually foster a new generation of doctoral supervisors, in whom African universities can take pride.