Nigeria’s foremost brewing company, Nigerian Breweries Plc., has announced the flag off of the 7th edition of the Maltina Teacher of the Year targeted at discovering new best teacher in both public and private secondary schools across Nigeria.
The competition, aimed at recognizing and celebrating exceptional teachers in the country for their contributions to the nation building was flagged off on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 in Lagos.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Corporate Affairs Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, the organiser and sponsor of the competition, Mrs. Sade Morgan said the seven-year-old initiative has yielded tremendous impact on teachers and the teaching profession, also on the education sector generally in Nigeria.
According to her: ‘’Nigerian Breweries came up with the Maltina Teacher of the Year award on the platform of its Corporate Social Responsibility arm, Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund, to identify, showcase and celebrate exemplary teachers in both the public and private secondary schools nationwide and the entries is free of charge.’’
Teachers, she said, hardly get the recognition they deserve in spite of the crucial role they play in determining the quality of education and the future of a country, hence the determination to sustain the initiative.
She added that over the years, the company had impacted the education sector across levels and promised to do more.
Mrs. Morgan explained that a total of N6.5m awaiting the overall winner of the competition just as it applies to previous winners and a plaque and certificate.
She said while the grand winner would go home with N1 million as a national champion and another N500, 000 as a state champion on the day of the award ceremony in October where he or she would be unveiled, the person would also be paid N1 million yearly for the next five years provided he or she remains a teacher.
The person who must be certified by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, she added, would also be entitled to all-expenses-paid short training course overseas and his or her school would equally get a block of six classrooms or another project of priority for producing him or her.
She also noted that while the first and second runner-ups would receive N1 million and N750,000 respectively, plus another N500,000 as champion from their respective states, the other state champion would go home with N500,000 each, bringing the total cash prize of the award to several million.
She said last year edition attracted 55 per cent increase in entries over that of the year before it and that more people are expected to participate this year.
In their separate remarks, the registrar of TRCN, Prof Josiah Ajiboye, who joined virtually and the national treasurer of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Mr Segun Raheem, said the initiative is a really rewarding experience for teachers and the teaching profession.
They both asked other corporate bodies to take the example of Nigeria Breweries Plc to invest hugely in the nation’s education sector so as to take Nigeria and its people out of poverty.
Ajiboye added that investment in human capital is the best by any country to attain economic greatness.
Sharing her testimonial at the event via a digital platform, the current champion, who is a female teacher with Concordia College, Jimeta, Yola, Adamawa State, Oluwabunmi Adani, commended Nigerian Breweries for the initiative, saying the award has added great values not only to the winners including herself but to the teaching profession in the country.
She said teaching is not about earning a living, but about having a strong passion for humanity and emotional stability to impart knowledge regardless of the challenges.
