By Stephen Gbadamosi, Ibadan
Teachers in Oyo State have commended the state government for prompt payment of their salaries, recruitment of new colleagues, career progression, promotion of primary school teachers to salary grade level 16 and the appointment of a teacher as the executive chairperson of the State Post-primary Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM).
Speaking at this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebration in Ibadan, Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Oyo State wing, Comrade Raji Oladimeji Ismail, said Governor Seyi Makinde’s magnanimity culminated in the array of achievements recorded by his administration at NUT.
He applauded the evacuation of the six-year promotion waiting period for primary school teachers, adding that the administrative clog was evacuated through the union’s advocacy.
The Chairman noted that the State government has also created 10 TESCOM zonal offices, and subsequently appointed teachers as Permanent Secretaries/Tutor Generals into the newly-created zonal offices.
Comrade Raji said his administration had strengthened members’ welfare schemes, noting that the State government had reviewed upwardly car and housing loans for teachers.
He, however, noted that teachers in the state still faced challenges of “inadequate funding of education, infrastructural deficits, and the need for continuous capacity development.”
Oladimeji said: “On a very special note, I wish to present a few requests of teachers for prompt attention of the Oyo State government: the need to expedite action on approving the long standing request of inter-zonal transfer.”
According to him, the state government needed to hasten the release of running grants to school heads to enhance the smooth running of schools.
In his address, the Executive Chairman of Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Nureni Aderemi Adeniran, said that approval for 2023/2024 promotion letters had been received from the Civil Service Commission for primary school teachers.
He, therefore, said soon the promotion letters would be released to teachers, as the letters were being signed by the Personnel Department of the Board.
Dr. Adeniran also said the pending issue of inter-zonal transfer of 2005 teachers back to LGUBEAs of their choice had been approved by the governor, while the board was making efforts to compile the list.
He disclosed: “The Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, under my supervision, has been working with NUT, Association of Primary School Teachers Headteachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON) and other stakeholders to ensure teachers welfare are secured.”
The OYOSUBEB Chairman revealed that the Board had received the governor’s approval to ensure the integration of the remaining teachers on secondment into the TESCOM employment grid.
Adeniran called on NUT to enlighten teachers, especially the newly-recruited, on the Public Service Rules (PSR), urging them not to take administrative matters to the public space.
“If you have grievances or enquiries, there are channels through which you can lay your complaints, not through the social media,” Adeniran said.
In his speech, National President, NUT, Comrade Audi Titus Amba, applauded Gov. Makinde’s efforts in the State’s teaching sector.
Represented by Comrade Shaibu Olayinka Yisa, the president equally appreciated the NUT Chairman; Chairman, OYOSUBEB; and other stakeholders in the education sector.
He said this year’s theme, ‘Recasting Teaching As a Collaborative Profession’, aimed at building a resilient system in the teaching profession.
NNPP Chief Makes Case For Tutors, Tasks Govts On Welfare
As teachers throughout the world celebrated their day on October 5, South-West chieftain of the opposition New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, called on both the federal and state governments to improve the living conditions of teachers across the country.
Oguntoyinbo, who rejoiced with teachers on their special day, dismissed the notion that teachers’ rewards were in heaven, insisting that governments at all levels should ensure that teachers were adequately rewarded while on earth.
Oguntoyinbo, in a statement made available to journalists at the weekend, said teachers were the moulders of children’s lives, adding that they were the first point of contact for children as they (children) were “leaving their parents to receive monitoring ahead of adulthood”, and therefore deserved to be celebrated.
He said the role of the teachers in the life of the youth could not be overemphasised, urging governments not only to improve the teaching conditions of the children, but also ensure that teachers were motivated in their jobs.
“I rejoice with teachers all over the country as they celebrate their special Day on Sunday October 5, 2025.
“I use the occasion of the Teachers’ Day to call on both the federal and state governments to improve the welfare of teachers.
“Teaching is a noble profession, as everybody would have, at one time or the other, been under the guidance of teachers when they were young.
“Government should make teaching an envious profession by paying teachers adequately and improve both their living as well as working conditions.
“A notion that teachers’ rewards is in heaven is outdated; governments should ensure that teachers who are the guidance and counsellor of the youth are adequately rewarded here on earth. Let’s jointly put teaching profession in high esteem,” he said.
PHOTO CAPTION: From left, Dr. Nureni Aderemi Adeniran, addressing teachers yesterday, while the NUT Chairman, Mr. Raji Oladimeji, CCII President-General, Chief Ajewole Ajeniyi; and others listened, during the celebration of World Teachers’ Day in Ibadan, Oyo State. Photo: STEPHEN GBADAMOSI.
