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By Bianca Iboma-Emefu
Teachers have been urged to look beyond their monthly salaries and deliberately invest in land and other assets to secure their financial future and reduce dependence on pensions after retirement.
The call was made at a one-day conference, “Teachers Must Become Landlords,” organised by Real Estate Synergy Support Associates (RESSA), which brought together teachers, educationists, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders from Lagos and Ogun States.
The convener and Executive Director of RESSA, Festus Ibiam, said the initiative was designed to challenge the traditional notion that “teachers’ reward is in heaven” and encourage educators to build tangible wealth while still in active service.
Ibiam said teachers, despite their relatively modest incomes, could progressively acquire property through disciplined savings, cooperative contributions and flexible payment arrangements.
He said, “Teachers’ reward should not only be in heaven. Teachers can build wealth, own property and create lasting legacies.”
According to him, the initiative was born out of the recognition that many teachers aspire to own homes and land but consider property ownership beyond their financial reach.
He said RESSA was therefore creating practical pathways for educators to become property owners rather than allowing their earnings to be entirely consumed by daily expenses.
Ibiam noted that land remained a long-term asset capable of appreciating in value and providing a foundation for home ownership, rental income or inheritance.
He added that property ownership could be particularly valuable to teachers approaching retirement, as it could provide an additional source of financial stability beyond salaries and pensions.
“Ultimately, our dream is to ensure every teacher has an opportunity to become a landlord, investor and financially empowered citizen. We believe that when we secure the teacher, we strengthen the classroom; when we strengthen the classroom, we strengthen the future of Nigeria,” he said.
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Ibiam also called on the government to introduce policies that would make property ownership more accessible to teachers and other low- and middle-income earners.
He advised the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and teachers’ cooperative societies to promote collective property acquisition, while appealing to financial institutions to develop structured financing schemes tailored to educators.
Speaking on “Building Wealth on a Teacher’s Salary,” a retired principal, Folarin Sunkanmi Quadri, said the size of a person’s salary did not necessarily determine whether the individual would become wealthy.
Quadri said financial discipline and consistency were more important, noting that people on high incomes could remain financially unstable if they failed to save and invest.
“Many high earners are broke. Many teachers are millionaires. It’s about what you keep, not just what you earn,” he said.
He tasked teachers to leverage their professional knowledge and skills to create additional income streams, including home lessons, online tutoring, Computer-Based Test (CBT) training, and writing or marking WAEC and NECO examination papers.
Quadri stressed that wealth creation was a long-term process that required consistency over several years rather than expectations of overnight financial transformation.
A major highlight of the conference was a raffle draw in which two participants each won half a plot of land, giving the property ownership message a practical dimension.
The director further noted that increased property acquisition and development by teachers could stimulate economic activity by creating opportunities for surveyors, architects, engineers, artisans, builders, suppliers and transporters.
He said empowering teachers financially would not only benefit individual educators and their families but could also contribute to stronger communities and economic development.
