Reported by Simon Daniel Yusuph l Journalist at Weng Global
The Federal Government has honoured outstanding Nigerian teachers, school administrators and schools at the 2026 President’s Teachers’ and Schools’ Excellence Awards, with Mary Adebayo of Nawair-Ud-Deen Grammar School Senior in Ogun State emerging as Nigeria’s overall best teacher.
The awards were presented on Monday, October 5, 2026, during Nigeria’s World Teachers’ Day celebration at Eagle Square, Abuja, in recognition of excellence, professionalism and contributions to education.
Adebayo received a new car as the overall best teacher, while Gloria Nkolika Odionu of Awada Primary School IV, Obosi, Anambra State, was recognised as the overall best school administrator and also received a car.
Federal Government College, Otobi, was named the overall best school and received a bus, while Abraham Nnaluka Ngobir of Federal Government College, Enugu, was recognised as the best teacher in Nigeria’s Federal Unity Schools and received a car.
Main Development
The 2026 President’s Teachers’ and Schools’ Excellence Awards formed part of the Federal Government’s World Teachers’ Day programme, which brought together teachers and education stakeholders from across Nigeria.
The ceremony was used to recognise individuals and institutions considered to have demonstrated outstanding performance in teaching, school administration and education delivery.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, presented the awards on behalf of President Bola Tinubu.
The recognition of Adebayo as Nigeria’s overall best teacher placed an educator from Ogun State at the centre of this year’s national celebration.
Adebayo teaches at Nawair-Ud-Deen Grammar School Senior in Obantoko, Abeokuta. Her award came with one of the most prominent prizes of the ceremony — a new car.
Odionu, from Awada Primary School IV in Obosi, Anambra State, was recognised as the overall best administrator. Her award also came with a car.
Federal Government College, Otobi, emerged as the overall best school and was rewarded with a bus, while Abraham Nnaluka Ngobir of Federal Government College, Enugu, received a car after being recognised as the best Unity School teacher.
Verified 2026 Award Winners
Based on current reports available from the October 5 ceremony, the following major winners can be independently identified:
Overall Best Teacher
Mary Adebayo
School: Nawair-Ud-Deen Grammar School Senior, Obantoko, Abeokuta, Ogun State
Recognition: Overall Best Teacher in Nigeria
Prize: New car
Overall Best School Administrator
Gloria Nkolika Odionu
School: Awada Primary School IV, Obosi, Anambra State
Recognition: Overall Best Administrator
Prize: Car
Overall Best School
Federal Government College, Otobi
Recognition: Overall Best School
Prize: Bus
Best Federal Unity School Teacher
Abraham Nnaluka Ngobir
School: Federal Government College, Enugu
Recognition: Best Unity School Teacher
Prize: New car
Anambra Records Strong Performance
Anambra State recorded one of the strongest performances in the 2026 awards, with a state-level report saying it secured nine national honours.
The report said Anambra won outright in eight categories and finished as first runner-up in another.
The categories in which the state was reported to have emerged first included Public Primary School Administrator, Public Junior Secondary School Administrator, Private Junior Secondary School Teacher, Public Primary School Teacher, Private Junior Secondary School, Private Senior Secondary School, Private Junior Secondary School Administrator and Private Primary School.
The state was also reported to have secured first runner-up in the Best Public Secondary School Teacher category.
Odionu’s national recognition was one of the most prominent results for the state.
Another Anambra awardee identified in the report is Agatha Chika Ofojindu of Urban Boys Secondary School, Onitsha, who was recognised as Best Public Junior Secondary School Administrator in Nigeria.
Ofojindu received a tricycle as her prize.
The Anambra report also said the state received other prizes, including deep freezers and laptops, in connection with its various awards.
The breadth of Anambra’s performance indicates that the recognition was not restricted to individual classroom teaching. School administration and institutional performance also featured prominently in the national awards.
How the 2026 Selection Process Changed
The awards followed a significant change in the Federal Government’s selection process.
Ahead of the World Teachers’ Day celebration, the Ministry of Education announced that the selection process for the President’s Teachers’ and Schools’ Excellence Awards had been digitised.
The move replaced the previous manual approach and was presented as an effort to improve transparency, accountability, documentation and the traceability of the selection process.
Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, said the digital system was developed in collaboration with State Ministries of Education and was aligned with African Union guidelines.
The ministry also said the new approach was intended to create a more credible and properly documented process for identifying outstanding educators and schools.
Before the ceremony, the ministry had announced that 14 awardees would be recognised and that the first, second and third-best teachers would receive cars, while the best Federal Unity College would receive a bus. Other award recipients were expected to receive laptops.
Five Priorities for the Teaching Profession
The 2026 celebration also placed emphasis on the changing demands facing teachers.
The Federal Ministry of Education identified five broad areas for the year’s programme: innovation, mobility, artificial intelligence, inclusion and professional excellence.
The emphasis on artificial intelligence reflects the growing impact of technology on teaching and learning.
Education Minister Tunji Alausa said technology and AI were changing the way knowledge was accessed and used, but stressed that technology could not replace the judgement, encouragement and human connection provided by skilled teachers.
The minister said teachers should be equipped to use emerging technologies responsibly while maintaining professional standards.
This is increasingly important as Nigerian schools face pressure to prepare pupils and students for an economy in which digital skills are becoming more important.
Government Calls for Better Teacher Welfare
The awards ceremony was also an opportunity for the Federal Government to renew its commitment to improving teachers’ professional development, welfare and working conditions.
Alausa said teachers deserved professional respect, opportunities to develop throughout their careers, appropriate resources, fair recognition and working conditions that enable them to perform effectively.
He also stressed that improving education would require cooperation between the Federal Government, state governments, school leaders, professional associations, organised labour, development partners, communities and parents.
The minister described teachers as the foundation upon which other professions are built, pointing to their role in preparing successive generations of doctors, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs and public servants.
He further argued that recognition should not be limited to those who received awards, noting that teachers across the country contribute daily to Nigeria’s development.
NUT Demands Implementation of Special Salary Scale
The Nigeria Union of Teachers used the occasion to push for stronger government action on teachers’ welfare.
NUT President Titus Amba, represented at the ceremony by Deputy President Kizito Kalu, said teachers needed decent remuneration, safe working environments, adequate teaching resources and opportunities for continuous professional development.
The union also renewed its call for the implementation of a special salary scale for teachers in basic and secondary schools.
According to the NUT, the Federal Government approved the special salary structure and other welfare measures in 2022, but implementation had not commenced four years later.
The union argued that recognition through awards needed to be accompanied by practical improvements in teachers’ working conditions.
It also raised concerns about overcrowded classrooms, inadequate furniture, insufficient instructional materials, poor infrastructure and shortages of qualified teachers.
The NUT called for increased recruitment, particularly in rural and underserved communities, alongside incentives to encourage qualified teachers to remain in the profession.
It further described continuous professional development as essential because teachers now operate in an education environment that is changing rapidly.
Why the Awards Matter
The President’s Teachers’ and Schools’ Excellence Awards provide a national platform for highlighting education workers whose performance is considered exemplary.
For the individual winners, the awards offer professional recognition and tangible rewards. For schools, they provide national visibility and potentially demonstrate the value of effective administration, teaching practices and institutional leadership.
The recognition of Adebayo is particularly significant because it places classroom teaching at the centre of the national conversation about educational development.
The award to Odionu similarly highlights the importance of school administrators, whose responsibilities extend beyond teaching to include managing staff, resources, learners and the wider school environment.
The award to Federal Government College, Otobi, also demonstrates that institutional performance remains an important component of the government’s approach to recognising educational excellence.
At the same time, the concerns raised by the NUT show that awards alone cannot resolve the structural challenges facing Nigeria’s education system.
Recognition can encourage excellence, but teachers also require adequate resources, professional development, appropriate remuneration, safe workplaces and sufficient staffing if improvements are to be sustained.
The Wider Education Challenge
Nigeria’s education system operates across a country with significant differences in resources, infrastructure and access to qualified teachers.
Teachers in major urban centres and those working in rural or hard-to-reach communities can face very different working conditions.
A national award therefore provides an opportunity not only to celebrate individual achievement but also to examine the conditions that make effective teaching possible.
The Federal Government’s emphasis on digitalisation and artificial intelligence adds another layer to that discussion.
Technology can expand access to educational materials and support personalised learning, but its effectiveness depends on teachers having the skills, infrastructure and institutional support required to use it properly.
That means investment in teacher training must accompany investment in digital tools.
The government’s stated focus on innovation, mobility, AI, inclusion and professional excellence points towards a broader attempt to modernise the teaching profession.
What Happens Next
The immediate challenge for the Federal Government and state education authorities is to translate the recognition given at the World Teachers’ Day ceremony into sustained support for teachers and schools.
For the award winners, the government has urged them to maintain the standards that earned them national recognition and to serve as examples to other educators.
For the wider teaching workforce, the key issues remain professional development, welfare, recruitment, infrastructure, teaching materials and the responsible adoption of new technology.
The NUT’s renewed demand for implementation of the special salary scale is also likely to keep teacher welfare on the education policy agenda.
The 2026 awards have therefore produced both celebration and a reminder of the larger task facing Nigeria: rewarding excellence while creating the conditions in which more teachers and schools can achieve it.
Source Verification Note
Weng Global has verified the major winners and award details reported above through current coverage of the October 5, 2026 ceremony. However, publicly accessible reporting reviewed for this article does not provide a single authoritative Federal Ministry of Education document containing the complete names and categories of every recipient.
Some reports refer to 14 awardees, while an Anambra-specific report describes nine of the state’s awards out of 18 categories. Because of this discrepancy, Weng Global has not presented unverified names as part of a supposedly complete national list.
This approach is consistent with Weng Global’s commitment to accuracy and responsible reporting.
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Sources
- The Federal Ministry of Education
- The Sun Nigeria
- The Abuja Inquirer
- Anambra People Magazine
- Schools Voice
