The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has awarded N4 million in scholarships to six outstanding Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) students drawn from the country’s six geopolitical zones.
The scholarship came as part of the union’s activities marking the 2025 World Teachers’ Day in Abuja yesterday.
This was disclosed during the valedictory address of the outgoing COEASU president, Dr Smart Odunayo Olugbeko, at the celebration, which also featured the inauguration of the new National Officers’ Council and an award ceremony.
The event was organised under the theme “Teachers: Leading in Crisis, Reimagining the Future.”
Dr Olugbeko, who delivered his farewell speech titled “Legacy of a Collective Progress,” said the scholarships formed part of COEASU’s National Scholarship Award for Outstanding NCE Students, introduced in 2024 to promote merit and academic excellence in teacher education.
“Following a rigorous national examination conducted by the Union, we are pleased to honour the best NCE students from each of the six geopolitical zones with a scholarship of N500,000 each. And to the overall best student in Nigeria, we present a scholarship of B1 million, a symbol of national pride and academic distinction,” he said.
He also announced the renaming of the national best student prize in honour of the late Khalid Yunusa, a student of Jigawa State College of Education, Gumel, who tragically lost his life en route to the zonal stage of the scholarship examination in September.
“In honour of his memory and the ideals he represented, the Union has resolved to rename the National Best NCE Student Award as the Khalid Yunusa Best NCE Student Award in Nigeria,” Olugbeko stated, noting that COEASU’s development partner, AFFIT, had also pledged to immortalise the deceased student through a scholarship for learners in his community.
Dr Olugbeko, who served as COEASU president from 2021 to 2025, used the occasion to recount key milestones of his administration.
In his goodwill message, the minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, commended COEASU for maintaining constructive engagement with the government and contributing to reforms in the teacher education sub-sector.
“Teachers are the custodians of stability and the architects of change. At the ministry, we are driving a clear agenda to reposition the teaching profession, professionalising, empowering and rewarding teachers,” Dr Alausa said.
Represented by Dr Iyabo Ali, a director from the ministry, the minister reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to the Dual Mandate Policy, which enables Colleges of Education to run degree programmes alongside NCE programmes.
The minister lauded Dr Olugbeko’s leadership for fostering industrial harmony within the system and urged the incoming executive to build on the achievements recorded between 2021 and 2025.
The incoming president of the union, Dr Ahmed Lawan Bazza, said the mandate given to him was to protect the welfare of members, advance the cause of teacher education, and build a stronger, more united COEASU.
“We shall, therefore, continue to engage the government and relevant agencies to ensure the full implementation of the basic instrument with which these aspirations of ours can be achieved the FGN-COEASU 2010 Agreement.
“We shall also ensure that the rights and privileges of our members are honoured as appropriate. We shall strengthen our advocacy for the repositioning of Colleges of Education, ensuring adequate funding, infrastructural development, and improved conditions for teaching practice and demonstration schools,” Bazza stated.
