Speech Delivered by Comrade Sola Adigun, National President of Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) Nigeria, on the Celebration of World Teachers’ Day 2025

Theme: “Recasting Teaching as a Collaborative Profession”

Protocols

Your Excellency, distinguished colleagues, partners in government, sister unions, respected teachers across the country, ladies and gentlemen.

I stand before you today with gratitude, humility, and renewed hope as we join the world to celebrate this year’s World Teachers’ Day under the theme: “Recasting Teaching as a Collaborative Profession.”

On the Theme
This theme speaks directly to our reality in Nigeria. Teaching has never been a job for lone rangers, it is a collective responsibility. The progress of a child is determined not by the teacher alone, but also by parents, policymakers, communities, and government.

Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession means that teachers must not be isolated, unions must not be sidelined, and ministries must not operate in silos. Instead, we must sit at the same table, share ideas, pool resources, and tackle challenges together.

True collaboration gives teachers a voice in shaping the future of education. It also means recognising the urgent need for the release of ASUSS’s certificate as a trade union, approved 17 years ago. Without a legitimate, distinct voice for secondary school teachers, collaboration will remain incomplete.

Commendations and Steps in the Right Direction
We commend the Federal Ministry of Education for progressive moves such as the inauguration of ASUSS representatives into the expanded 5th Governing Council of the TRCN in July 2025, a welcome sign of inclusiveness. We also acknowledge the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme, tuition-free and skill-driven, as a powerful example of collaboration between policy and practice. States like Ekiti and Bayelsa, which had earlier made technical education tuition-free, deserve special commendation.

We appreciate the Federal Government and state governments that have made it a point of duty to celebrate teachers and Teachers’ Day annually. This recognition uplifts our profession and dignifies teachers who nurture the nation’s future.

Furthermore, we thank state governments that have respected the constitutional rights of secondary school teachers to freely associate with ASUSS. We encourage other states to emulate this spirit of collaboration, as it strengthens the education sector.

Challenges We Must Face Together
Collaboration demands that we face our problems as one. The greatest challenge confronting Nigeria today is education quality, education built on values and virtues.

How do we fight examination malpractices if teachers, parents, and government agencies work at cross purposes?
How do we solve poor remuneration and welfare if unions remain divided?
How do we tackle infrastructural decay and insecurity in schools if stakeholders look away?

We must also confront the shameful non-compliance with the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022. Despite court rulings, 16 states have yet to implement the law. This is not collaboration; it is confrontation. No society develops beyond the level of its education.

On the newly introduced 9-year Basic Education Curriculum, let us be realistic: ambition without preparation breeds failure. Where are the trained teachers? Where are the teaching tools? Collaboration demands that teachers be involved in planning, not just implementation.

The Way Forward
To truly recast teaching as a collaborative profession:

States yet to establish Senior Secondary Education Boards must do so urgently to access intervention funds.

Recruitment of qualified teachers must be prioritised, as many states remain grossly understaffed.

Government must recognise ASUSS and other critical stakeholders, for collaboration without inclusion is a contradiction.

We affirm that ASUSS will collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Education’s policy requiring all teachers to register with TRCN. Therefore, we call on our colleagues who have not yet registered to do so within the stipulated time. Professional certification is not just a regulation; it is a mark of dignity and competence.

Our Pledge
On this World Teachers’ Day, ASUSS assures government at all levels, our sister union, and the Nigerian people: we are ready to collaborate. We are ready to dialogue, innovate, and build. Together, we can restore education to its rightful place of honour.

We call on states where teachers’ salaries, promotions, allowances, and welfare are denied to urgently correct these injustices. Teachers deserve dignity, not neglect.

Conclusion
My brothers and sisters, recasting teaching as a collaborative profession is not a slogan it is a necessity. No teacher can succeed alone. No union can succeed alone. No ministry can succeed alone. But together, we can fight malpractice, improve welfare, equip our schools, protect our children, and uplift the teaching profession.

That is the spirit of this celebration. That is the task before us. And together, we shall achieve it.

Long live ASUSS Nigeria!
Long live Nigerian teachers!
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!