Otti declares education key to Abia’s growth

From Okey Sampson, Umuahia

Governor Alex Otti has disclosed that education remains the springboard of his administration’s development agenda, saying the government will spare nothing to prepare the Abia child for the emerging new age.

The Abia governor made the disclosure in Umuahia while launching the Abia Fostering Innovation Reform School Transformation (AbiaFIRST) and unveiling its logo to provide quality education for the state’s children.
The Governor emphasised that the state’s development framework is founded on the transformative power of education, stressing that he would spare nothing in promoting education.

“The Abia Government will spare nothing to prepare the Abia child for the emerging new age.

“Investing in education, as we have learnt from the development strides of other nations, is no longer optional but a consistently generational outlay which has become a prerequisite for the achievement of the aspirations of any society,” he said.

Otti, who noted that AbiaFIRST is a central plan for a transformational governance initiative for the rapid socio-economic development of the state, added that the programme is focused on strategic initiatives aimed at transforming the education sector in the state through sustained investments in that sector.

“The AbiaFIRST Transformation Education programme is focused on strategic initiatives aimed at transforming the education sector in the state through sustained investments in the development of school infrastructure, training and retraining of teachers on new trends, and recruitment of quality teachers to cater for the rise in enrolment figures,” he said.

Otti promised to lead the charge in qualitative education delivery, assuring that the government would no longer play second fiddle with the education sector.

The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Goodluck Ubochi, said that AbiaFIRST is not just about improving individual schools but involves a complete institutional reform that will transform education in Abia State.

He disclosed that the key to the transformation in education lies in the innovative solutions the government is introducing, which include digital learning platforms, a wholesome curriculum framework, teacher professional development, technical and vocational education, a monitoring and evaluation system, and science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM).

He called on all stakeholders to cooperate with the government to achieve this noble objective.

The Team Lead of the Education Reform and Innovation Team (ERIT), Mrs Abolaji Osimen, noted that the ERIT team, which consists of 180 professionals specialising in areas such as Educational Technology and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), has been engaging with the present administration since 2023.

She said their goal is to foster digital proficiency among young learners and to collaboratively address the challenges facing Nigeria’s education sector, and she praised Governor Otti for his commitment to the educational development of the state.

Representatives of development partners, including UNESCO, the World Bank, and the British Council Office in Abuja, all congratulated the Governor on his efforts to revitalise the education sector.

They reaffirmed their commitment to partnering with the state government through capacity-building initiatives to enhance its educational development.