By Joseph Erunke, Abuja
Four years after the Federal Government approved a special salary structure for teachers in basic and secondary schools, the National Union of Teachers, NUT, has accused the authorities of leaving the long-awaited pay regime in limbo, demanding its immediate implementation to halt declining morale in the profession
The union said the continued delay was unacceptable at a time teachers were battling rising living costs, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate facilities and worsening manpower shortages across the country
The NUT National Deputy President, Kizito Kalu, made the demand on Monday,in Abuja while delivering the union’s 2026 World Teachers’ Day address at Eagle Square
Kalu said the special salary scale, approved by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 alongside other welfare packages, had still not been implemented despite the passage of four years
According to him, the government must move beyond policy pronouncements and translate the approval into actual improved remuneration for teachers
“Teachers must receive remuneration that reflects the importance of their responsibilities and the prevailing economic realities in the country
“We wish to recall that the federal government, under former President Muhammadu Buhari, gave approval for the implementation of a special salary scale for teachers in basic and secondary schools in the year 2022 alongside other welfare packages
“Unfortunately, four years after the approvals, implementation has not commenced
“We, therefore, renew our call on the government to set machinery in motion for actualisation of the new salary regime for teachers in order to boost their morale and enhance their dignity”
The union said the salary issue was only one part of a broader crisis confronting the teaching profession
Kalu called for urgent improvement in teachers’ working conditions, warning that educators could not be expected to deliver quality learning outcomes in classrooms plagued by overcrowding, inadequate furniture and shortages of instructional materials
He said the government must address the conditions under which teachers work if the country was serious about improving the quality of basic and secondary education
The union’s position came as Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark World Teachers’ Day, celebrated annually on October 5 following its inauguration in 1994 at the 44th session of the International Conference on Education in Geneva
Beyond remuneration, the NUT raised fresh concerns over an acute shortage of teachers in schools across the country, particularly in rural, underserved and hard-to-reach communities
The union attributed the manpower crisis partly to prolonged failure by some state governments to recruit teachers to replace those who had retired, died or left the service
“There is an acute shortage of teachers in our schools across states of the federation, occasioned by non-recruitment of teachers by some state governments for many years,” Amba said
The union urged governments at all levels to embark on aggressive recruitment of professionally qualified teachers to close the widening manpower gap
It also called for incentives capable of attracting and retaining teachers in difficult-to-reach communities, stressing that recruitment without retention measures would not solve the problem
The NUT maintained that improving teachers’ remuneration, working environment and professional status was critical to restoring confidence in a profession that remains central to Nigeria’s human capital development
It therefore called on the federal and state governments to implement the outstanding salary regime, recruit adequate numbers of qualified teachers and provide the facilities and incentives required to keep educators in the classroom