WTD: TUC backs full recognition of secondary school teachers’ union

By Philip Yatai

President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr Festus Osifo, has reaffirmed the commitment of the union to securing official recognition for Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) as a registered trade union in Nigeria.

Ofiso made the commitment in Abuja on Monday, during the 1st National Celebration of World Teachers’ Day and the 3rd Annual National Leadership Workshop.

The event had the theme, “The Impact of Ethics and Attitudinal Change in Managerial Leadership.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ASUSS’s struggle to break away from the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and gain official recognition as an independent trade union has remained one of the most prolonged unionisation disputes in Nigerian educational history.

ASUSS was originally established in the late 1990s as the Conference of Secondary School Tutors (COSST) before rebranding and seeking separation from the NUT.

The TUC president described the struggle as “a work in progress”, noting that TUC is collaborating closely with the association to cross all administrative hurdles.

“For us in TUC, we strongly believe that secondary school teachers should be given their rightful place.

“You have people in secondary schools teaching our children who have peculiar needs and whose welfare needs special attention.

“That is what ASUSS has represented over the years, and we will continuously collaborate with them until we pass the finish line,” he said.

Highlighting the critical role educators play in nation-building, the TUC president argued that Nigerian teachers deserve better structural and financial support, drawing a comparison with global best practices.

“Even more than civil servants in Nigeria, we think teachers need a special place.

“If you go to a country like Finland, you see how teachers are taken care of—earning significantly more than many other professionals,” he said.

Osifo noted that such nations recognise a fundamental reality: to produce top doctors, engineers, and professionals, a society must first invest in high-quality educators.

“They take care of their teachers specially because of that, and that is where we want Nigeria to be,” he said.

Addressing the broader economic challenges facing the nation’s workforce, Osifo highlighted the gap between current earnings and the rising cost of living, noting that wages across the public sector remain abysmal.

He reassured the public that the TUC would continue to use strategic advocacy and negotiation to push for living wages and better working conditions for all Nigerian workers.

“It is a work in progress. We will continuously advocate and press home our demands,” he said. (NAN)

Edited by Funmilayo Adeyemi