By Nifemi Adefemi
With Agency Reports
A multiple-award-winner, Adeola Adefemi, added another feat to her achievements when she emerged as the winner of the 2023 African Union Continental Teacher Prize.
Adefemi, an English language teacher at Keke Senior High School in Agege was named the winner on Thursday afternoon by the Director of UNESCO in charge of the International Institute of Capacity Building in Africa, Wodon Quentin.
The award was part of activities to commemorate this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebration held across the globe.
According to the AU, the award is aimed at encouraging outstanding teachers across the continent as well as enhancing the visibility and status of teachers in Africa at all levels.
The union further explained that the status of a teacher in Africa is very important to achieving the Agenda 2063 vision of integration, peace, and prosperity on the continent.
Last year, Adefemi won the Best Teacher Prize in Lagos State and was rewarded by the Lagos state government with a brand-new SUV. Later that same year, she won the Presidential Best Teacher Prize in Nigeria and was given another SUV by the Federal Government.
Now, with her latest award, Adefemi, who also won the 2020 Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Award, received an award plaque, a certificate of recognition, and a cash prize of $10,000 for the feat.
In 2020, Olalekan Adeeko, a teacher in Ogun State, won the AU Teacher Prize from Nigeria since its establishment four years ago.
The African Union Commission honours a maximum of eight teachers who have been found exemplary in service delivery in the classrooms and also in the communities among teachers from the various regions of the continent on a yearly basis.