Delta State Teacher wins 2017 Edition of Maltina Teacher of the Year Awards

A teacher with Mastercare International School Asaba, Delta State, Mr. Felix Udochukwu Ariguzo, has emerged the 2017 winner of Maltina Teacher of the Year Award held in Lagos on Thursday.

For beating out other contestants, Ariguzo was awarded ₦1 Million as well as ₦500,000 he received as Delta State Champion. In addition, he will receive ₦1 million every year for five years, a training programme abroad and a block of six classrooms built in his school.

Ariguzo who teaches Biology and Chemistry said that he gets his inspiration for teaching from his love for service and knowledge building. He expressed gratitude to Nigerian Breweries for the gesture and urged other corporate organisations to emulate the worthy example.

“Today, I am very happy and proud that Nigerian Breweries has shown that teachers’ rewards are both in heaven and on earth,” he said.

The 38 year old son of a teacher maintained that teaching is not about earning a living, but giving life a meaning and that a strong passion and emotional stability are vital in the teaching profession.

Also recognized at the event were the runner-ups; Mrs. Chika Ume-Ezeoke, a Biology teacher with Our Lady of Apostle, Yaba, Lagos State, who emerged the first runner-up, while Mr. Samuel Emochuagu, an English teacher with Winners International Academy, Aguadama-Epie, Yenogua, Bayelsa State came in as the second runner-up.

Each of the 27 winners on the state level received ₦500,000, while the 1st and 2nd runners-up received an additional ₦1 million and ₦750,000 respectively.

While welcoming guests at the event, the Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Johan Doyer, said that in line with the company’s philosophy of winning with Nigeria, it resolved in 1994 to play a more active role in the development of education in Nigeria by establishing the Nigerian Breweries – Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund with a starting capital of ₦100 million naira.

According to Doyer, the fund has positively impacted the lives of 25,000 students across the country, built 31 classroom blocks and equipped 30 libraries with furniture and books in both primary and secondary schools across various communities.

He noted that the company’s intervention in education expanded to include teachers in 2015. The initiative he said, was based on the realization that teachers hardly get the recognition they deserve despite the important role they play in determining the quality of education and the future of our country.

“Today’s grand finale gives us an opportunity to share happiness with our teachers and I hope that this initiative reminds everyone to support and encourage our teachers always,” Doyer said.

He equally thanked the stakeholders in the education sector for their support especially the Federal Ministry of Education, the ministries of education in all the states across the country, the Nigerian Union of Teachers, the All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, amongst several others.

In her remarks, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, who was represented by Mr. Adesina Odeyemi, a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, described teachers as the most critical asset of the nation and thanked Nigerian Breweries for the initiative she described as a big boost to teachers and the teaching profession.

The Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative has so far, produced 69 State Champions and three overall winners. In 2015, Mrs. Rose Nkemdilim Obi from the Federal Government Girls College, Onitsha, Anambra State emerged as the Maltina Teacher of the Year at the maiden edition while Mr. Imoh Enoh Essien, a teacher at the Special Education Center for Exceptional Children, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State won in 2016.