Teachers across Nigeria renewed calls for better welfare, improved working conditions, and full implementation of the 65-year retirement age policy as the country joined the global community to mark the 2025 World Teachers’ Day.
At various events held across the country on Sunday, October 5, education stakeholders and teachers’ unions complained about the slow pace of policy implementation, poor salaries, and inadequate school facilities, which they said continue to affect the quality of education.
World Teachers’ Day is celebrated every October 5 to honour the contributions of teachers to national development.
In a goodwill message read across the states, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Audu Amba, called on governments at all levels to increase funding for education and invest more in teachers’ welfare.
“Without proper investment in teachers, the future of education is at risk,” Amba said, while praising Nigerian teachers for their resilience, patriotism, and dedication to duty.
Data from the NUT showed that 16 states have yet to implement the 65-year retirement age and 40-year service limit provided in the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022. The affected states are Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers, and Sokoto.
Also Read: Celebrating the Architects of Tomorrow — The Role of Teachers in National Development
Speaking at the celebration held at the union’s main conference hall, Asa Dam Road, Ilorin, the Kwara State NUT chairman, Comrade Yusuf Agboola, lamented that the government had not keyed into the 65-year retirement policy.
“The government has not keyed into the 65/40 years national harmonised retirement age for teachers, and rural allowances for those teaching in remote areas remain outstanding,” he said.
Agboola called on the government to address outstanding welfare issues affecting public school teachers in the state, adding that the future of education in the state would remain uncertain if teachers were not properly motivated and supported.
The law, signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari on April 8, 2022, states that teachers will retire at 65 years of age or after 40 years of service, whichever comes first.
It also introduces bursary awards, rural posting allowances, and other incentives to encourage more Nigerians to join the teaching profession.
