EDUCATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS IN NIGERIA: THE WINNING STRATEGY OF ABIA STATE

By Kingsley Maduforo.
The Global Competitiveness Report (2010-2011) of the World Economic Forum which values the competitiveness of 132 economies in the world provides the most complete and standard economic evaluations using what it calls ‘Pillars’ as determinants in its assessment. Education is the third pillar right after infrastructure (World Economic Forum 2010).
Education – the ‘process of teaching, training and learning, especially in (conventional and unconventional) schools and colleges to improve knowledge and develop skills’ – functions as a catalyst for growth, development and innovation. In other words, lack of education or poor educational standard is one of the impediments to individual, communal and national development. It therefore features prominently in the making and marring of a nation. Neglect for education impacts negatively on any society so in order to positively improve such society, stimulate growth and development and reduce poverty, it is imperative that the standard and affordability of education are improved upon.
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State upon assumption of office made education his priority especially as is manifest in the ‘Five Pillars’ of his administration. Although the unmet demands are huge, he has made huge investment as well in the education sector of the State to meet the equally huge demands. The Governor in this respect, christened the Friends of Abia School Adoption Initiative (FASAI) as one of his pet projects geared towards moving the educational sector of Abia State forward. This private sector-driven initiative is aimed at getting well-meaning individuals in and outside the State to give back to the communities and schools that moulded them. Such people are expected to adopt indigent pupils and/or volunteer to renovate dilapidated school infrastructure in order to make schools conducive for teaching and learning. When schools are revamped and upgraded, the effect on the entire school system will be enormous. Surely, this initiative is working perfectly well across the State and its benefits are many.
It is on record that the Governor is driving a two-pronged infrastructural revolution in the educational sector of Abia State – physical infrastructural revolution which deals with the renovation and upgrading of our schools’ physical structures, and stomach infrastructural revolution which is a free meal programme for pupils in public schools. Ten public schools from each of the 17 LGAs in the State are benefiting from both lanes of the programme. The Governor is not just renovating and upgrading the dilapidated structures in our public schools he is also engaging in human capacity building in order to meet the people’s immediate needs through his pet (FASAI) project.
This educational revolution of Gov. Ikpeazu has led to the standing ovation accorded Abia State from across the country as the Best Performing State in the education sector. In the recently released result of the 2017 West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE), the State maintained its first position as the Best Performing State for the third consecutive year. The Governor therefore has assured that his administration will always boost education with every available resources within its reach so as to ensure that the State does not descend from its enviable position as number one in Nigeria’s educational ranking.
In a press release by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Enyinnaya Appolos, the Governor applauded the students and their teachers for a job well done and vowed to prioritize the welfare of teachers in the State’s school system. He also called on the newly inaugurated State Scholarship Board to ensure that the Best Performing Student from each of the 17 LGAs is given tertiary education scholarship to study in any Nigerian institution of higher learning of their choice. This is so because the present administration describes qualitative education as the bedrock for sustainable peace, progress and development in any society.
Again, the fact that staff training and retraining are catalysts for maximum productivity of any organisation or sector drove the former Commissioner of Education, Abia State, Prof. Ikechi Mgboji to take up the burden and vision of his Principal to raise the standard of education in the State. It is on record that apart from infrastructural development, the Ministry Prof. Mgboji supervised engaged the service of foreign experts who trained and retrained Abia teachers, inculcating in them the modern principles of teaching.
Truly, investing in education has remarkably positive effects on the society. This requires effective collaborations and partnership. This is therefore a call on private investors to join hands with the present administration ably led by Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu to invest in the educational sector of Abia State so as to maximize its huge benefits.