Teachers’ rewards are generally believed to be in the life after not while alive, especially in this part of the world. The conditions of making the nation’s educators ‘reap the fruits of their labour’ while still breathing are not just there.
 
Besides being one of the least paid sets of professionals in the country, both in the public and private sectors, the conditions in which these educators operate are enough to give concerned citizens goose pimples.
  
Therefore, stakeholders in the nation’s education ecosystem see the Maltina Teacher of The Year (MToY) Competition, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts of the Nigerian Breweries (NB) Plc, as a way of breathing life into this glaringly cash-strapped and comatose space, and inspiring Nigerian teachers to aim for the sky.
 
Now in its 10th edition, MToY, an initiative derived from the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund’s mission to champion the cause of teachers, has identified, honoured, and rewarded outstanding teachers in Nigeria since 2015. The CSR initiative created to recognise, celebrate, and reward exceptional secondary school teachers, both in private and public schools, for grooming the children for the future, has also produced and handsomely rewarded a total of 278 teachers within the period under review.
 
Giving its reasons for the initiative at the recent unveiling of the MToY 2024, which was won by Esonmofu Chidiebere Ifechukwu, the management of the Nigerian Breweries Plc, said it demonstrates the company’s unwavering determination to contribute its own quota to the nation’s educational development.
 
Speaking at the award ceremony, the Managing Director, NB Plc, Hans Essaadi, also expressed delight that the objectives of setting up the competition are being gradually achieved.
 
He stressed the need to reward and celebrate Nigerian teachers for their daily sacrifices, toils, and efforts at shaping the minds of future leaders. This, he added, has been the driving force of the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund.
 
He expressed delight that the Fund, set up with a sum of N100 million in 1994, has continued to make a positive impact on the lives of teachers and the practice.
 
To further demonstrate the determination of the company not to spare any effort in ensuring the competition achieved its set goals, Essaadi explained that the organisers increased the cash prizes for the winning categories in this year’s edition, with the star winner going home with the sum of N10 million instead of the initial N5 million cash prize.
 
So, the 10th edition saw the grand prize-winner, Esomnofu of Crown Grace School, Mararaba, Nasarawa State, smile home with the princely sum, a capacity training programme abroad, and N30,000,000 worth of infrastructure for the school; while the first and second runners-up received a trophy, and a total sum of N3, 000,000, and  N2,000,000 respectively.
 
All state champions got recognition plaques and a cash prize of N1,000,000 each.
Essaadi sees it as a way of reiterating the company’s commitment to supporting education and empowering Nigerian teachers.
 
For the company’s Corporate Affairs Director, Sade Morgan, the organisers are delighted at the increasing acceptance of the competition, as evidenced in the number of participants in the just-concluded 10th edition.
 
According to her, while 1,477 teachers submitted entries, 1,300 were eventually shortlisted out of which 11 teachers eventually reached the final stage of the competition, representing far higher figures, compared with those recorded last year.
 
Besides the increase in the cash prizes for the winner and the first and second runners-up, another of the uniqueness of the latest edition was the emergence of 11 teachers for the final stage. Morgan described it as evidence that the competition is getting fiercer every year.
 
“Unlike in the past, what we ended up having at this year’s edition were the top 11 teachers for the final event instead of the top 10 of the past editions because we had a tie among two of the participants,” she stated.
 
Morgan also believed the competition has enabled the company to contribute its quota to the overall development of the educational sector across the country, particularly at the secondary level, by elevating the prestige and perception of teachers.
 
Interestingly, the recognition light ignited by MToY has gone beyond the shores of the country. Many of the MToY winners have gone ahead to win other recognitions both on the local and global stage. Not a few have, however, attributed this to the ability of the competition’s jurors to separate the chaff from the wheat, which has become one of the strong points of the competition today.
  
An example can be seen in Rose Nkemdilim Obi, the winner of the maiden edition of the competition, renowned for her creativity in teaching two seemingly ‘difficult ‘ subjects, Chemistry and Mathematics.
 
The Anambra State-based STEM educator’s style centres on fostering a supportive, inspiring, interactive, and inclusive classroom environment for in-depth learning, one of the values the jurors believed set her apart from others.
 
ImohEnohEssien of the Special Education Centre for Exceptional Children, Uyo, another grand prize winner, believes his role as a top-class professional caregiver, tutor, and guide to children with special needs can best be achieved through the cooperative efforts of teachers, principals, support personnel and their parents. And this he pursues to the letter in his daily professional activities.
 
The post-MToY exploits of some of the winners are pointers to the accuracy of the jurors’ sense of judgment. For instance, three years after winning the prestigious prize in 2019, Essien also emerged as the winner of the Fulbright Teacher Excellence Award.   OpeifaOlasunkanmi, MTOY 2018 winner also emerged as one of the top 10 finalists at the 2020 Global Teacher Award. He was also recognised by the Ogun State government in 2021, and presented with a three-bedroom apartment.
 
A public affairs analyst, finance guru, and Chief Executive Officer, Wealthgate Advisors, Mr. AdebisiAdesuyi, said the MToY experiment should be encouraged, emulated, and intensified. He noted that collaboration between the government and non-state actors has become imperative if the government is sincerely desirous of achieving its economic recovery goals.
 
He stated that the intervention of NB Plc in the nation’s education sector and the attendant results of such intervention are pointers to what such collaboration can achieve.
 
According to him, non-state actors such as religious organisations and businesses, as seen in the case, will be in a pole position to contribute their own quota to the nation’s economic recovery growth, and enable the government to realise the ‘peace and prosperity for people and the planet’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), adopted by all United Nations members in 2015 if the government is ready to play its own part.

“One of such roles, I believe, is the need for the government to ensure there is an enabling environment for these businesses to thrive. If the environment is not conducive, there will be no business in the first place, not to talk of such a business contributing any quota to the development of the country as we are seeing here,” he added.
 
Adesuyi stated that since the government’s resources are no longer limitless, CSR has become one of the numerous ways of resuscitating this ailing economy and putting it on a growth path.