Top teachers target NB, Maltina brand N50m largesse

Nigerian Breweries (NB) plc has instituted a Maltina Teacher-of-the-Year Award initiative worth N50 million annually to reward commitment and diligence to duty by teachers across the country.

The award, which is done on the platform of Maltina brand by the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund, is aimed at restoring the pride of teachers and the dignity of the teaching profession.

Kufre Ekanem, the company’s corporate affairs adviser, says at a press conference in Lagos  that the award, which is a new initiative from the Foundation, is designed to recognise, celebrate and motivate teachers in Nigeria, with a first year focus on secondary schools.

According to him, collection of application forms, which opened on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, will last till Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

He advises interested teachers to download the application forms from the Maltina website, www.maltina-nigeria. com and upload to the site or return via the company’s post office mail box.

Ekanem says that all applications will be subjected to an intense selection and judging process by an external and independent panel of judges that has been constituted to ensure transparency, credibility and objectivity of the exercise.

The five-step evaluation process of the entries received, he says, will result in 37 state and FCT champions, from among which the Maltina Teacher- of- the-Year will emerge.

The state champions and national winners will be celebrated in a grand ceremony on Monday, October 5, 2015, a day set aside by the United Nations to mark the World Teachers Day. The national winner will get N1 million and another N1 million to be paid into his account annually for five years.

“We hope that through this initiative, we can inspire this nation to accord our teachers their deserved credit and bring back respect to the teaching profession in Nigeria,“ Kufre says, adding that the objective of the award is to create an avenue where exceptional teachers will be showcased and rewarded annually and continuously.

Also speaking at the occasion, Victor Famuyibo, the company’s human resources director, describes teachers as builders of the wealth of nations who deserved to be recognised, encouraged and celebrated. “Everywhere in the world, teachers play a vital role in training, coaching and determining the quality of education and this is critical to sustainable national development,” he says.

Wale Oyeniyi, the acting deputy general secretary of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, (NUT) commends the initiative by Nigerian Breweries and saying that Maltina drink has become the official beverage of the union in all its activities across the country. He promised to mobilise all chapters of the union to participate fully in the exercise.’

Ohiwerei is the first indigenous chairman of the  beverage conglomerate which has been operating in the country since 1946. The Trust Fund was established in 1994, with a seed capital of N100 million, to contribute to the development of educational sector in the country.

Over the years, the company has used the fund to assist over 20,000 students, built 250 classrooms and 22 libraries in both primary and secondary schools across 49 communities in the country.