By Remi Johnson
The Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, FCT Wing, has called for improved remuneration, better welfare packages and prompt promotion for teachers to motivate them to deliver effectively on their responsibilities.
The union made the call in Abuja as the world marked this year’s World Teachers’ Day, while highlighting the contributions of teachers to education and national development.
Chairman of the NUT, FCT Wing, Comrade Abdullahi Shafa, said teachers deserved to enjoy the reward of their labour while still alive, rather than relying on the popular saying that teachers’ rewards are in Heaven.
Comrade Shafa identified poor remuneration, inadequate accommodation, insecurity, kidnapping and unconducive teaching environments among the challenges confronting teachers across the country.
He urged state governments, which are responsible for basic education, to judiciously utilise available resources to rehabilitate and rebuild schools, improve teachers’ welfare and provide accommodation for teachers posted to difficult locations.
The NUT-FCT Chairman also called for improved salaries, stressing that the implementation of the minimum wage should reflect the professional status and responsibilities of teachers.
“We want the reward of teachers to be given to them on Earth here. Teachers are facing alot of problems, alot. Problems ranging from remuneration, issues that have to do with security threats and kidnapping of our members.
“We are appealing to the government all over the country. So, states should wake up, use the resources they are getting from this government judiciously in terms of rehabilitating, renovating, and rebuilding schools, and giving the teachers their right, building quarters for teachers too, so that the environment will be conducive for our members,” Shafa said.
Similarly, the State Secretary of the NUT, FCT Wing, Comrade Margaret Jethro, attested to schools being renovated across the territory, but said more needed to be done to make teaching attractive to young people.
While noting that teachers perform a critical role in shaping individuals and society, Mrs Jethro explained that inadequate remuneration and poor welfare had contributed to the declining interest in the teaching profession.
She specifically called for the removal of vacancy as a precondition for teachers’ promotion in the FCT, saying the policy had stagnated many teachers for years.
According to her, promotion is a major morale booster for workers, and teachers should be allowed to progress in their careers while remaining in the classrooms, where they are most needed.
She also advocated the provision of housing quarters for teachers, stressing that renovating schools without adequately motivating teachers would not produce the desired results.
“Sometimes they say they renovate schools. How can you renovate schools without motivating the teacher? Renovation without motivation of teachers is nothing… Until the teachers are properly taken care of, nothing will work well.”
Corroborating, the Treasurer of the NUT, FCT Wing, Comrade Mamud Ameh, also criticised the vacancy precondition for teachers’ promotion in the FCT, describing it as an inappropriate policy for teachers, given the large number of educators serving in FCT schools.
He confirmed that FCT teachers receive their salaries regularly, but insisted that the current remuneration is inadequate in view of the rising cost of living, particularly transportation and fuel.
The NUT-FCT Treasurer therefore urged the government to prioritise teachers’ welfare, stressing that a motivated teacher would contribute significantly to improved education and national development.
“High transportation cost is telling on teachers, yet we go to work every day. What is left? Now that a litre of fuel is going as much as 1,300 – 1,500, our present-day salary cannot take us anywhere. Therefore, we need improvements,” Ameh said.
In his remarks, the Minister of the FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, represented by the Secretary of the FCT Education Secretariat, Dr Danlami Hayyo, reaffirmed the FCT Administration’s commitment to continuing to invest in promoting quality education and teachers’ welfare for national development.
He commended teachers in the Federal Capital Territory for their dedication, sacrifice and commitment to educating and nurturing the next workforce.
The theme of World Teachers’ Day 2026 is: “Standing with teachers: 60 years of protecting the profession, advancing its status and shaping our futures.”