# Iphigenia Efunjoke Coker

Iphigenia Efunjoke Coker (1924–2019) was a Nigerian educator. From 1963 to 1977 she was Principal of Queen's College, Lagos, the first person of Nigerian descent to hold the position.

## Quotes

* I have been told that I have nothing to do with the celebration except to be present. My girls have taken me over.
** Coker speak on her 80th Birthday in 2004.
* I have always wanted to be a teacher. I was not interested in money or cars. I was only interested in teaching and training the young ones.
** Coker speak on having passion for teaching in 2008.
* I am sorry for those who take up teaching as a stopgap. Whoever wants to be a teacher must be ready to put everything into it. And the rewards are plentiful, in heaven and also here on earth.
** Coker speak on best profession in 2008.
* As a teacher, I worked tirelessly, ready, besides my normal class, to give extra lessons, help small groups and even individuals. I loved teaching so much I wished I didn't have to be paid for it. It was a living as well as a love.
** Coker on being a teacher in 2008.
* Your pupils appreciate you, not when you are training and correcting them, but when they are older and understand better. They will then know that you were acting in their best interest.
** Coker talk about appreciation from pupils in 2008.
* Desirest thou the teacher's work? Ask wisdom from above. It is a work of toil and care Of patience and of love.
** Coker recipe for success as a teacher in 2008.
* I condemn society's charge of delinquency against them as gross injustice. Nigerian youths are what adults have made them.
** Coker rises in defence of the youth in 2008.
* Most reprehensible is parental neglect, self-centered parents being interested only in freedom to enjoy themselves.
** Coker speak on parental neglect in 2008.
* I am not really sure about the word decline, because there are areas in which education has improved.
** Coker talk about education decline in 2008.

## Quotes about Iphigenia Efunjoke Coker

* a dedicated teacher, moral tutor and respected educationist, and a pace setter in emancipation of Nigerian womanhood, a woman of unusual talent, who dedicated her career to the service of her nation in the supervision and training of young ones.
** National award citation by the then Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo in 1979.
* She is a model of leadership, forming the character and building the competence of thousands of girls who went through her tutelage and an exemplary teacher to teachers.
** The Queen’s College Old Girls Association (QCOGA) announced the death of Iphigernia Efunjoke Coker in 2019.
* Mrs Coker should go down in history as one of the best Nigeria has produced in education. When the Federal Government designated Queen’s College as the first Government College for girls, “Cokie” as she was fondly called, blazed the trail and set the standard for what would become the ethos of all Federal Government Colleges as symbols of national unity.
** Chairman, Board of Trustees of Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA), Mrs Aisha described Mrs Coker in 2020.
* An exemplary teacher and astute administrator, mentor and mother of mothers.
** The obituary statement by the Queens College Alumni glorified Mrs Coker after her demise in 2020.