NLC pressures government to raise spending on education

Nigeria’s top labour union has urged the government to boost education spending and improve teacher welfare, warning that neglect of the profession threatens the country’s future.

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, said teachers remain underpaid and undervalued despite their central role in nation building. Speaking at World Teachers’ Day celebrations in Abuja, he described the profession as the queen of all professions but said it continues to suffer from poor pay, inadequate working conditions and lack of respect.

“The paradox is stark: while society heaps praises on teachers, they remain the most neglected and starved profession. Teachers are praised to heaven but starved on earth,” Ajaero said in a statement.

He urged the Federal Government to meet the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation benchmark, which recommends that at least six per cent of a country’s Gross Domestic Product and 20 per cent of public expenditure be allocated to education.

According to him, Nigeria’s current investment falls far below this level, creating shortages in qualified teachers and worsening student–teacher ratios.

The labour leader also criticised the widespread exploitation of teachers in private schools, many of whom, he said, are denied basic rights, social protection, and fair wages.

He demanded that the Minister of Labour and Employment, along with the Minister of Education, take decisive action to ensure that private school teachers are allowed to form and join unions, in line with the Nigerian Constitution and International Labour Organisation conventions 87 and 98.

Ajaero further warned that without decisive investment in teachers’ welfare, Nigeria risked worsening brain drain in the education sector, with teachers leaving the profession for better opportunities abroad or in other industries.

“You cannot give what you do not have. Teachers who are not adequately trained, motivated, and supported cannot be expected to deliver quality education. If we continue on this path, the future of our children and indeed the country is at stake,” he cautioned.

The NLC President stressed the need for a national framework to train unqualified teachers, strengthen professional development, and address the high pupil-to-teacher ratio which, in many schools, is far above global standards.

World Teachers’ Day 2025 was marked under the global theme ‘The Teachers We Need for the Education We Want: The Global Imperative to Reverse Teacher Shortages’, which said was  particularly relevant for Nigeria, where teacher shortages are acute and alarming.

He urged the government at all levels to demonstrate political will by prioritising teachers’ welfare as a fundamental step towards transforming the education sector.