The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) has called on the Federal Government to recruit only qualified candidates in the 500,000 teachers it promised to employ this year.

The appealed was made on Wednesday by the NUT President, Mr Michael Olukoya, at a meeting of the union in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

He said that anything short of the right requirement for those employed may jeopardise the future of young Nigerians.

Mr Olukoya also lamented the non-payment of salaries of teachers and the non-adherence to the national minimum wage by owners of private schools in Nigeria.

He called for the closure of private owned schools who refused to pay their teachers the 18,000 Naira minimum wage.

The NUT promised to put in their best to ensure the development of the teaching profession if all the concerns raised at the meeting were met.