Chief Sharafadeen Alli, a former Secretary to Oyo State Government, has commended teachers in Nigeria, especially in Oyo State, for their relentless efforts in impacting knowledge on their pupils and students.
Alli made the commendation in a press statement he issued on Monday in Ibadan, on the occasion of the World Teachers Day, celebrated every October 5.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Alli as saying that teachers deserve better welfare packages for the services they render to humanity.
Alli, the Ekefa-Balogun Olubadan of Ibadanland and the ZLP governorship candidate in Oyo State in the 2019 general election, said: “Teachers turnout engineers, filmmakers, journalists, writers, astronauts, architects, lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs and other professionals
“Without teachers, the world would not have great leaders and heroes who make our planet a better place for all.”
The Ibadan chief urged governments at all levels to use this year’s celebration to ruminate on better ways to repackage their welfare.
According to him, “Nigeria is among the countries where teachers are not respected for their sacrificial role of burning like a candle while impacting knowledge on others to attain success.”
He said that teachers continue to risk their lives to ensure that the world continues to grow in spite of the negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic.
“I salute all the teachers across the country, especially in my primary constituency, Oyo State. I commend them and I appreciate them for their relentless efforts.
“I therefore urge governments at all levels to use this special occasion to look at ways of ensuring they are given better treatments.
“It is painful that Nigeria remains one of the countries where we don’t appreciate teachers because of their poor remuneration,” he said.
Alli said that there was no contention about the positive contributions of teachers to human capital development globally.
He said that governments at all levels should drop politicking and bring up policies that will set the country as academic trailblazer in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.
“A recent findings revealed that 60 percent of teachers lacks job satisfaction, are psychologically discouraged due to low take home pay and deprived welfare packages.
“They also suffer from disregard for their salient contributions to nation building. We must put a stop to these,” he said.
