President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, has expressed his appreciation to teachers in the country as they join their colleagues in the world to celebrate this year’s World Teachers’ Day.
Making use of the celebration to show the appreciation, the President described the Nigerian teachers as “the usually unsung heroes of our country whose skill and commitment daily mould the minds of our country’s youth, our leaders of today and tomorrow”.
This was contained in a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, which he issued in Abuja on Friday.
“Teachers are the most important segment of workers in our country, invaluable for the essential work they do towards building our country’s future. Teaching is a noble profession, wielding a strong influence by inspiring and educating our children. The values they inculcate stay with them for a lifetime,” the President notes.
While highlighting some of the measures put in place by his administration to improve education and better the welfare of teachers, President Buhari regrets as “grave and unfortunate” that our country’s teachers are often treated unfairly despite their essential services.
Shehu noted that the President is aware that in some states and local councils of the federation, teachers are being owed salaries of several months.
“It was specifically to mitigate the situation of unpaid teachers and pensioners that his administration doled out billions of naira as bailout funds to various states. Sadly, the issue of unpaid salaries remains.
“President Buhari assures Nigeria’s teachers that his heart is with them in this regard, and he will continue to work with the state governments to ensure that all salary arrears are not just cleared, but that unpaid salaries become an issue of the past,” the statement said.
