Only Governor Honoured as Nation Marks Teachers’ Day Celebration at Eagle Square, Abuja

It was marking the Teachers’ Day celebration at Eagle Square, Abuja, on Monday, when history was made for Ondo State as His Excellency, Dr. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, Executive Governor of Ondo State, was honoured as Nigeria’s Best Governor and Teacher’s Friend.

The occasion was the 2026 World Teachers’ Day Commemoration and President’s Teachers and Schools Excellence Awards, a national gathering convened to celebrate excellence, sacrifice and service in the nation’s education sector. At the event, Governor Aiyedatiwa emerged as the only Governor in the entire federation to receive an award, a singular distinction that speaks eloquently to his administration’s outstanding contributions to educational development in Nigeria.

In his acceptance speech delivered with humility and profound insight, Governor Aiyedatiwa, himself a former classroom teacher, dedicated the honour to teachers in Ondo State. He observed that whatever modest achievements his government has recorded in education were made possible by teachers who daily enter classrooms bearing not only lesson notes but the hopes of families, the aspirations of communities and the future of the Sunshine State.

The recognition, conferred in the presence of the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Education, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, principals, head teachers and other critical stakeholders, is a fitting tribute to a leader who has deliberately placed teachers at the heart of his governance philosophy.

The Governor noted that the award was not a personal laurel but a collective affirmation of the resilience of Ondo State teachers. He recalled his return to the classroom in March 2025 in Akure as a symbolic gesture to reconnect with the realities of teaching, stressing that the experience reinforced his belief that no educational system can rise above the quality, motivation and welfare of its teachers.

Governor Aiyedatiwa’s commitment has been evident in the deliberate and sequential implementation of his administration’s OUR EASE agenda, where education occupies a place of pride. His government sustained the payment of WASSCE and NABTEB fees for candidates in public secondary schools, thereby easing the financial burden on parents and promoting access and equity. To address a teacher shortfall that persisted for more than fifteen years, his administration recruited and deployed over two thousand teachers across the state, while strengthening continuous training and professional development to enhance classroom effectiveness and dignity for educators.

In addition to addressing personnel needs, the administration embarked on comprehensive infrastructural renewal across the three senatorial districts, leading to the renovation and construction of classrooms, laboratories and libraries. This was complemented by the provision of thousands of learners’ desks and teachers’ furniture, tens of thousands of textbooks, as well as the deployment of free school shuttle buses and boats for students, particularly in riverine and underserved communities, to ensure that access to education is not hindered by distance or terrain.

These interventions have earned commendation from professional bodies including the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools, which described the Governor’s investment as the most far-reaching in recent memory, a verdict that has now received national validation at Eagle Square.

For Governor Aiyedatiwa, the goal of education transcends certificates. His vision is to nurture a generation that is intellectually sound, morally upright, technologically competent, entrepreneurial and globally competitive. It is a vision anchored on safe learning environments, digital literacy, technical and vocational skills, and a culture that rewards excellence and merit.

The award conferred today is therefore more than a ceremonial plaque. It is a scholarly attestation to a leadership that chose to invest in minds rather than mere structures, a leadership that chose to honour those who teach and by so doing secured the future.

As the Teachers’ Day celebration came to a close at Eagle Square, one message resonated clearly across the pavilion. When a government genuinely befriends its teachers, it befriends the future, and posterity will remember it with gratitude.

Congratulations to Dr. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, Nigeria’s Best Governor and the Teacher’s Friend.