A pro-democracy group, the Peoples Voice Advocacy Network (PVAN) has condemned the Kwara State Government for excluding teachers from the recently approved 30 per cent salary increase for state workers, describing the action as discriminatory and further evidence of the administration’s disregard for the welfare of teachers.
Last week, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq approved the salary review for workers in ministries, departments, agencies and parastatals, with effect from December 1, 2025, according to a letter issued by the Office of the State Head of Service. However, teachers, who constitute the largest segment of the state workforce, were not included in the upward review.
In a statement issued on Monday by its Deputy Publicity Secretary, Engr. Abdulraheem Kehinde, PVAN said the exclusion of teachers showed that the present administration does not value the teaching profession or appreciate the critical role teachers play in societal development.
The group noted that the development was consistent with what it described as the continued unfair treatment of teachers under the Abdulrazaq administration. According to PVAN, the state government has refused to implement the Teachers Specific Allowance (TSA) of 27.5 per cent for TRCN-certified teachers under CONKWESS I and 21 per cent for non-TRCN-certified teachers under CONKWESS II.
PVAN recalled that the TSA agreement was nationally signed in 2008 between the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Nigerian Governors Forum, then chaired by former Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki. While several states have since implemented the agreement, the advocacy group said successive agitations and engagements by the NUT in Kwara State have yielded no result under the present administration.
The organisation further criticised what it described as the government’s selective attention to workers’ welfare, noting that full consolidated salary structures had been approved for medical and health workers and recently for judiciary workers, while teachers’ long-standing demands remained unattended to.
“Even more troubling is the government’s selective approach to workers’ welfare. While full consolidated salary structures have been approved and implemented for medical and health workers, and recently for judiciary workers, teachers, who form the backbone of human capital development, have been left to languish. This selective generosity underscores a disturbing policy bias and reinforces the perception that the present administration simply does not care about the welfare of teachers,” the group said.
In addition, PVAN faulted the Kwara State Government for failing to comply with the National Harmonised Teachers Retirement Act, 2022, which prescribes 40 years of service or 65 years of age as the retirement benchmark for public school teachers nationwide. The group said more than 25 states had complied with the Act, making Kwara’s continued use of the 35-year service or 60-year age limit unacceptable and unlawful.
PVAN called on the Kwara State Government to immediately include teachers in the approved salary increase, implement the Teachers Specific Allowance in line with the 2008 agreement, and comply fully with the provisions of the National Harmonised Teachers Retirement Act, 2022.
“As a people-centred advocacy organisation, PVAN unequivocally condemns this sustained injustice against teachers in Kwara State. We demand the immediate inclusion of teachers in the approved salary review, full implementation of the Teachers Specific Allowance, and urgent domestication and enforcement of the National Harmonised Teachers Retirement Act, 2022.
“Our teachers must be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect, not neglect, discrimination, and empty promises. The Kwara State Government must be reminded that no society can progress while those entrusted with educating its future are treated with contempt,” PVAN noted.
