Maltina Teacher of the Year 2026 is open to all public and private secondary school teachers in Nigeria until August 7, 2026. The overall winner gets N10 million, a Honda HR-V, and a N30 million school upgrade, while state champions each get N1 million. Apply free at www.maltinateacheroftheyear.com or download and email the form.
If you teach in a secondary school in Nigeria, public or private, see this. The Maltina Teacher of the Year competition is back for its 12th edition. This year, the overall winner carries N10 million cash, a brand new Honda HR-V, a year’s supply of Maltina, and an overseas training trip. Your school doesn’t lose out either, it gets a N30 million infrastructure upgrade if you win.
Entries opened June 3, and the window closes August 7, 2026. That’s not far again, so if you’ve been planning to apply, no dulling.
What the competition is actually about
Nigerian Breweries set up the Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund back in 1994 with 100 million naira, to support education in the country. In 2015, the Fund started the Teacher of the Year competition to put names and faces to teachers doing serious work in classrooms that most people never hear about. Since then, over 300 teachers have been recognised through it, and it now has backing from the Federal Ministry of Education, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, ANCOPPS, and the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria. Eleven years running, with government and union backing behind it. This is not one-off marketing.
Who can apply
Any teacher in a public or private secondary school in Nigeria can apply. It doesn’t matter what subject you teach or which state you’re in. The competition runs at state level first. Every state and the FCT picks a state champion, and the overall national winner comes from that pool.
What you stand to win
The overall national winner gets N10,000,000 cash, a Honda HR-V, a year’s supply of Maltina, an overseas training opportunity, and their school gets a N30,000,000 infrastructure project. First runner-up gets N5,000,000 plus a trophy. Second runner-up gets N3,000,000 plus a trophy. Every one of the 36 state champions (plus FCT) gets N1,000,000 and a recognition plaque, whether they go on to win nationally or not.
Even reaching state champion level is a solid win on its own, sha.
How to apply
Two options, and both are free.
Easier one: go straight to the official site, www.maltinateacheroftheyear.com, and register an account. Once you’re signed in, fill out the form online. Faster if your network is behaving.
If you don’t want to fill a form online, or your school’s network can’t be trusted with a long form, download the application form from the same website. Fill it, scan it, send it to maltinateacheroftheyear@heineken.com. Either way, you’re in the same pool. Pick whichever one you can finish without wahala.
Before you start, get these ready: your full name, email address, phone number, date of birth, state of origin, and your current location. The form might ask for more depending on what you enter, so don’t rush it by 11pm the night before deadline.
One thing worth knowing before you apply
I went through the list of past winners, and there’s a pattern. Almost none of them won purely on years spent in class. Serah Yusuf, 2025 winner, has an NGO and wrote a book on English language teaching. Esomnofu Chidiebube, 2024 winner, built an online following of over a million people teaching Mathematics, and personally funds a national maths competition for students. Adeola Adefemi, 2023, started initiatives on girls’ education and safe learning environments, outside her normal teaching hours.
You don’t need a million followers to stand a chance. But the judges do seem to reward teachers who’ve done something beyond the syllabus, whether it’s a small community project, something you built for your students, or extra effort nobody asked you for. Don’t just write your job title and how many years you’ve taught. Talk about that one thing you’ve done for your students or your school that goes beyond the job description. Make sure it shows.
A quick word of caution
The application is free, full stop. Nobody should ask you to pay a “registration fee,” “processing charge,” or anything like that. If anyone reaches out saying they can “secure” you a spot for money, that’s not from Nigerian Breweries or the Trust Fund. Stick to the official website and the official email above.
Don’t wait till the last week
August 7, 2026 is the closing date, and they’ve said it’s firm. Government offices and school admin in Nigeria don’t always move fast, so if you need a reference letter, a photo, or any document from your school, start now, not in the final days when everybody else is also rushing.
If you know a colleague who deserves this more than they realise, forward this to them. Somebody has to tell them, and it might as well be you.
