THOMAS IMONIKHE
08051000465
For Mr. Solanke Francis Taiwo, a primary school teacher at Ansa-Ur-Deen Main School I, Kemta Lawa, Abeokuta, who emerged as the Overall Best Primary School Teacher in Nigeria for 2025/2026, the popular phrase ‘’teacher’s reward is in heaven’’ may no longer be attractive as it used to since clinching the golden trophy at the National Teachers’ Summit in Abuja in recognition of his outstanding performance and dedication to education.
Truly, Taiwo, besides looking forward to the eternal rewards in the divine realm, for his enviable feat, recently reaped bountifully when he got a two-bedroom bungalow from the state government, was presented with the keys to a brand-new car and received a cash award of N50 million both from the Federal Government.
Governor Dapo Abiodun who handed over the car keys to the award-winning teacher at his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, in the presence of the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbagbu, and the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs. Oloko, revealed that the two-bedroom bungalow would be allocated to Mr. Solanke in any location of his choice under the State Housing Scheme.
Prof. Arigbagbu at the presentation ceremony, could not hide his joy for the national laurel when he described the feat as another confirmation of the governor’s sustained investment in education and the impact of ongoing reforms in the sector.
“When you do things consistently and efficiently, you will definitely continue to get results. We have been winning the Best Teacher Award back-to-back. This same teacher won an award in October and has now emerged as the overall best teacher in Nigeria,” he noted, identifying the Ogun State Education Revitalization Agenda, built on six pillars, with the last pillar focusing on students’ and teachers’ welfare as the basis for the excellent performance.
Continuing, he said, “This administration has done so much across all the pillars. The declaration of emergency in the education sector led to far-reaching reforms covering curriculum development, school management, technology and innovation, infrastructure, funding, as well as students’ and teachers’ welfare’’.
It is also on record that before now, many students from the state had posted sterling performance in external competitions including the national Junior Engineers, Technicians, and Scientists (JETS) competition, due to sustained investment in the education sector focusing on continuous training and retraining of teachers through workshops, seminars, digitization initiatives, and AI-powered teaching platforms over the past six years of the incumbent administration.
The consistent national recognition of Ogun teachers and students, according to him, is evidence that the reforms are yielding tangible fruits, adding that “it shows that when we say someone has emerged as the best teacher, it is not by chance or manipulation. It confirms that the entire education sector has been revitalized. We will continue on this path until the end of this administration. Ogun State is number one in education, and we cannot afford to go backwards’’.
But the joyous best primary school teacher in the country who had put in 23 years of impactful service in the teaching profession, 15 years of it in the rural areas, the recognition was not just a personal achievement but a validation of years of dedication, sacrifice in teaching young minds.
According to him, ‘’when my name was announced, I thought about my learners, colleagues and everyone who had supported me on this journey. It’s just a proud moment not just for me, my school, my community, Ogun state and Nigeria at large and in particular the teaching profession. I see it as a call for more dedication, more commitment to the teaching profession’’.
Beyond the material and cash gifts, the recognition is a further call on him to do more, for fatherland since as the saying goes, ‘’to whom much is given, much is expected and the reward of hard work is more work. So, for me it’s an opportunity to do more, to contribute to national development, to renew my commitment in terms of collaboration with my fellow teachers and make me more committed to my learners, rewriting their stories and bringing out better versions’’.
However, he seems not keen on retaining the title next year but wants a positive turn-around of the teaching profession in the country, ensuring that the profession attracts the best brains, empowering and motivating teachers to continue to give their best to their students for them to excel and be able to compete with their counterparts across the globe as well as strengthening the educational sector which is the bedrock of national development.
What is also more important to Solanke is collaborating with other teachers to boost productivity and bringing out the best learning outcome in learners. ‘’To my colleagues out there, let us continue to give our best, to impact on our learners to ensure that they can rub their shoulders with their counterparts anywhere in the world and ensure that we instill confidence, courage, excellence and inculcate positive values in our learners because they are our tomorrow. By this, we will be able to build a sustainable environment and nation, as well as an educational system that is bright and vibrant’’, he counselled.
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