Every year, as Nigeria celebrates Workers’ Day, I can’t help but think of one man whose quiet dedication changed the course of my life—Mr. Adeniyi Usman, my teacher.
He wasn’t famous. He didn’t have much. But what he had—patience, wisdom, and an unwavering belief in his students—was more powerful than anything money could buy. Mr. Usman taught me many aspects of the English Language, but his lessons stretched far beyond the classroom.
He taught me to believe in my voice, to aim higher, to push through doubt. And he did it all while dealing with more hardship than any professional should endure.
This Workers’ Day, while we celebrate the market women, the factory hands, the health workers and civil servants, I want us to remember the educators—the ones like Mr. Usman who carry chalk like it’s a sword and go to battle every day for Nigeria’s future.
Teachers in this country work under impossible conditions: underfunded schools, irregular salaries, unsafe environments, and little recognition. Yet they persist. They show up. They give.
When we say workers are the engine of the Nigerian economy, we must ask: who built that engine? Who laid the foundation for every skill, every discipline, every dream? It’s our teachers.
The promises made today to “prioritize workers’ welfare” must not stop at rhetoric. Our educational system needs more than policy—it needs care. Investment. Respect. If we expect students to thrive, we must ensure their teachers are supported, empowered, and treated with dignity.
Education is not one profession among many. It is the seedbed of all others. Every doctor, lawyer, entrepreneur or innovator in this nation passed through the hands of a teacher like Mr. Adeniyi Usman.
So today, as I join millions in saying Happy Workers’ Day, I say it with gratitude—for Mr. Usman, and for every teacher shaping Nigeria’s future, one lesson at a time.
You are not just workers. You are nation builders. And it’s time we treated you that way.
