An English Language teacher in Lagos public school, Adeola Adefemi, who won this year’s Maltina Teacher of the Year (MToY) Award, has said she is fulfilled as a teacher.
She said the MToY award and the numerous others she had earlier received are not only a personal achievements, but also testaments to the pool of incredible students and colleagues who had been sources of inspiration and support in her journey so far as a teacher.
Adefemi stated these in an interview with Nigerian Tribune, saying she is truly humbled, particularly by the latest recognition.
According to her, “the MToY award has brightened my career and also strengthened my resolve to empower the next generation with knowledge and values. I’m now more determined to make a greater impact on the lives of my students and the community.”
Adefemi, who won the Africa›s best teacher prize instituted by the African Union (AU), two weeks earlier, was announced winner of MToY award at the grand-finale of the competition and award ceremony penultimate week in Lagos
This development culminates in her being the first teacher from Lagos State to have won the best prize in the competition since it was instituted nine years ago.
Adefemi defeated 1,498 teachers who submitted entries for the award contest this year nationwide.
Mr Azuh Chike Emmanuel of Ezemu Girls Grammar School, Delta State and Adam Abdulqadir Nda of Model Science College, Niger State, won the second and third prize positions respectively.
Adefemi received a total cash prize of N6.5 million (N1.5 million immediately and will also be collecting N1 million every year for the next five years); a gold trophy and she is also entitled to all expense-paid short course studies overseas and a block of classrooms or laboratory worth N20 million for her school.
Meanwhile, the first and second runners-up got N1.5 million and N1.25 million respectively for their efforts.
MToY Award is an annual competition organised and sponsored by the Nigerian Breweries Plc, under its social corporate arm, known as NB-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund, for teachers in both public and private secondary schools across the country.
The competition, which is free and open to all teachers and had produced eight past winners, is meant to identify, celebrate and reward exceptional teachers in Nigeria.
In their separate remarks at the event, both the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the state’s commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Jamiu Alli-Balogun, and the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu lauded Nigerian Breweries for instituting the competition, saying the effort is an investment that will leave a long lasting legacy for the country.
On his part, the managing director of Nigerian Breweries, Mr Hans Essaadi, represented by the director of Corporate Affairs of the company, Mrs Sade Morgan acknowledged that the competition had really brought a great revolution into the teaching profession in the country.
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