There was palpable tension in Kwara State as Teachers in the State staged a peaceful protest over their exclusion from the newly approved 30 per cent Peculiar Salary Allowance granted to other categories of state workers.

 

The aggrieved Teachers who gathered at the Nigeria Union of Teachers’ state secretariat in Ilorin, Kwara State Capital, described the decision of the Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq led State Government as unfair and discriminatory, insisting that teachers deserved equal treatment with other civil servants.

 

Segun Afolabi, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved Teachers said the 27.5 per cent Teachers’ Specific Allowance was a statutory entitlement and should not be merged with, or used as a replacement for, the newly approved 30 per cent allowance.

 

Other states are implementing the 30 per cent Peculiar Allowance, and Kwara should not be an exception. Teachers’ earnings in Kwara State are far below the economic reality of the country,” Afolabi said.

 

He further lamented that poor remuneration was affecting the quality of education in the state.

 

“Education is suffering because teachers are not well paid. All civil servants in Kwara State were paid November 2024 palliatives, but teachers were exempted,” he said.

 

He added that the worsening economic hardship had pushed many teachers into depending on loans to survive.

 

“The economic hardship is escalating and affecting teachers the most. In Kwara State, teachers depend solely on loans to stay alive.

 

“The quality of education is low because teachers are not properly attended to,” he added.

 

He said the protest was to demand the immediate implementation of the 30 per cent Peculiar Allowance for teachers, as enjoyed by other state workers.

 

Kwara State Chairman of the NUT, Yusuf Agboola, however appealed to Governor AbdulRazaq to urgently include teachers in the new allowance in the interest of equity and industrial harmony.

 

He added that the Union had earlier issued a circular urging public school teachers to remain calm and avoid further protests over their exclusion from the allowance approved for workers in ministries, departments and agencies.

 

He acknowledged that teachers were deeply pained by the development.

 

“There is no gainsaying that we are in pain and our hearts are disturbed by the missing gaps in the payment of the newly introduced Peculiar Allowance, from which Kwara public school teachers were excluded,” Agboola said.

 

However, he dismissed claims that the union’s leadership had failed teachers, describing such perceptions as misleading.

 

He added that negotiations on the Peculiar Allowance took place alongside discussions on the Teachers’ Specific Allowance, which was recently approved after over a decade of abandonment.

 

The union however demanded that during negotiations that the 30 per cent Peculiar Allowance be extended to teachers in addition to the 27.5 per cent and 21 per cent TSA already under consideration.

 

“We categorically told representatives of the state government that the Peculiar Allowance should also be extended to teachers,” he said.

 

Agboola further disclosed that the union officially received confirmation of the TSA approval at an enlarged emergency meeting of the State Standing Committee held on December 21, 2025, describing it as a major achievement of his administration since assuming office in late 2023.

 

Criticising a protest staged by some teachers on December 22, Agboola alleged that it was driven by ulterior motives and exploited the frustration of members.

 

“The call for protest was surrounded by motives that some teachers could not fully understand. Participation amounted to joining the multitude, while the real masterminds hid under the issue of Peculiar Allowance,” he said.

 

Speaking further, Agboola said that the union’s leadership was not present during the protest because it was not formally notified, while secretariat staff were already on end-of-year holidays, and key officers were out of the state.

 

Agboola also appeal for unity, urging teachers to remain calm and work together to resolve outstanding issues.

 

“A united people can never be defeated,” he said.