‘We do it for passion, but it doesn’t pay the bills’ — Nigerian teachers living on less than the minimum wage

Most days, Blessing Uchechi greets his students in the school where he teaches in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with a smile, but the reminder of what his salary will be at month’s end makes it vanish, leaving his face as blank as the board before the first lesson.

Each month, he earns ₦30,000 less than the national minimum wage of ₦70,000, a sum he says is a poor reward for his contributions as a teacher and belittles the value of his work in the classroom.

Though he came from a family of teachers, the classroom was never his dream. His sights were set on the skies—becoming a pilot in the Nigerian Air Force. But with his parents’ modest teachers’ salaries, the cost of the Nigerian Defence Academy or an aeronautical school was far beyond reach.

“My ambition was never to be a teacher,” he said, his words followed by a sigh that seemed to carry years of resignation.
Elsewhere, Bidmus Adam, a teacher in a private school in Lagos, has similar experiences with Uchechi. He also did not dream of becoming a teacher, but today, he goes home with a salary of ₦30,000 at the end of the month from his teaching profession.

Many private school teachers earn meagre salaries

In 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu raised Nigeria’s national minimum wage from ₦33,000 to ₦70,000, aiming to provide government workers with a “living wage” that matched the rising cost of living. A year on, however, many argue that even the new wage falls short, as the soaring cost of essentials continues to erode its value.

The salaries of teachers who are staff of the federal government have been adjusted to meet the new minimum wage, but the wages of their counterparts in private schools are stuck in the past.

Although comprehensive data on the number of private school teachers earning below the national minimum wage is scarce, Nigerian Private Schools reveal that entry-level teachers with zero to two years of experience typically earn between ₦25,000 and ₦60,000, while mid-level teachers with two to five years’ experience earn between ₦60,000 and ₦120,000.

Findings by The Guardian revealed that some private school teachers earn ₦15,000 monthly, and that sub-minimum wage pay persists even among those with over three years of teaching experience.

‘Passion does not pay the bills’

Uchechi described his journey into the teaching profession as a humble beginning. He told The Guardian he had no plans of being a teacher for long. Although it was challenging at first, Uchechi soon realised he was good at it. He received accolades from the proprietor of the school for his work, and his students developed a soft spot for him.

“The teaching profession is characterised by the laborious writing of lesson notes and imparting them to the students. But outside, the stress is a place where you connect with the students emotionally.

“I started teaching with the mentality that it was a phase I needed to start with in my life, and I thought that I would find something better for myself. I found out that I was good at it. I like teaching. It is something I do for fun and I’m passionate about,” said Uchechi.

If it were 2013 or the years before when petrol was sold for less than ₦100 per litre and the inflation rate was 8.5%, Uchechi and Adam would have lived conveniently with their below ₦70,000 salaries. But it is difficult to do so in 2025, a time when petrol is sold for over ten times the price it was in 2013, and prices of goods and services have soared.

As the cost of living continues to skyrocket, Uchechi and Adam are forced to watch as they are priced out of basic necessities and struggle to survive with a meagre salary in an economy that offers them nothing but a high cost of living.

According to a research paper published by a university professor at the University of Warwick, Joshua Fullard, various factors, including pay, affect teacher motivation.

“As teachers play an important role in the development of a wide range of their pupils’ skills, it is important to understand the role teachers’ wages have on other skills developed in school. Indeed, my research shows that teachers’ wages also affect their pupils’ well-being, measured by the enjoyment of learning.

“While there are a range of other factors that are likely to affect teacher motivation (such as senior leadership and work–life balance), my research indicates that money does matter. In a wider context, this means that salaries are not only important for the recruitment and retention of excellent teachers – they also help ensure that teachers feel valued and are motivated,” the research paper read in part.

A a survey by Education Week also revealed that teachers are most likely to say that a pay rise is the change that would improve their morale. Ten per cent of the respondents said that a pay rise is the only thing that would improve their morale.

Although poor wages can demotivate teachers from delivering quality education, Uchechi said he would have left the profession a long time ago if he had considered only the poor pay he received on the job.

Recounting the memories of his first few months on the job, Uchechi said he would wear one piece of clothing to school on most days, and his students often teased him about it, asking if it was the only piece of clothing he owned.

“My monthly salary is less than the minimum wage. It is too poor. It is a minute fraction of my contributions as a teacher, but it is not my motivation. If it were, I would not be happy teaching.

“When you look at the amount of money you are getting, you won’t be motivated to put in your all. It will look like you are working for the money, not the people. So I had to switch my focus and what I value. What I do is because I enjoy doing it, and I focus on the bigger picture instead of current gratification,” he told The Guardian.

Adam also shares the same thoughts as Uchechi. He told The Guardian that he has considered leaving the profession behind countless times.

“My current salary is less than the minimum wage and does not motivate me. If I look at the time, stress, and energy I expend on my job, I would have been rich if it were another profession.

“My passion for teaching grew along the way, but passion does not pay the bills,” Adam added.

Teachers turn to side gigs to survive

The passion to teach remains, but the reality of surviving on low wages is forcing many educators to juggle multiple jobs. With inflation eroding the value of already meagre salaries, many teachers are turning to side hustles to survive.

After long days in overcrowded classrooms, they switch roles, selling clothes online, running food stalls, or offering private lessons in the evenings.

For some, these extra jobs are the only way to afford rent, pay school fees for their own children, and cover basic living expenses.

When he is not teaching, Uchechi works as a digital marketer, an advertiser, and is currently learning skills related to the travel industry to make ends meet.

He told The Guardian that although someone recommended a course to him, he couldn’t take it because he doesn’t own a laptop—his teacher’s salary is too low to afford one—so instead, he resells the course to others to earn extra income.

Like Uchechi, Adam also takes online classes and engages in side hustles to augment his income.

A teacher in Zaria who has been teaching for ten years and earns below the minimum wage, Ummulkhulthum Daiyab Bature, told The Guardian she sells hijabs, shoes, and other items to make ends meet.

“I am shy to mention my salary in public or tell people who know how much I struggled in the university. I am sure I deserve more than my monthly pay,” said Bature.

Why private school proprietors pay teachers meagre wages

A retired government school teacher who now works as a principal in a private school, Hassan Hamzat, told The Guardian that proprietors of private schools pay their teachers meagre wages because the schools were established for profit-making, rather than quality education.

“Most private schools were established for financial gain. From the onset, the way some schools were established, you will know it is a money-making scheme, not to pay teachers their worth.

“Sometimes they don’t employ qualified teachers to teach their students,” said Hamzat.

The retired government school teacher also told The Guardian that proprietors of private schools frown on their teaching staff joining labour unions, like the National Union of Teachers (NUT), hence hindering the unions from demanding better salaries for them.

“The NUT is a union that joins teachers together. They are willing to assist private school teachers in demanding better pay, but most private schools forbid their teachers from participating in any union activity.

“It is clearly written in their letter of appointment. On the union side, this prevents the union from assisting private school teachers,” he added.

While his passion for the profession, which does not pay him a salary that can conveniently cater to his expenses, keeps him going, Adam dreams of days when proprietors of private schools will prioritise teachers’ welfare by paying wages that reflect their true value to society.

“I hope private school owners can do better,” he said. (Guardian)