Abia State’s contingent of school principals made a commanding impression at the just-concluded 2025 All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) national conference held at the Heroes’ Square in Owerri, Imo State.
The principals from public schools across Abia led the state-by-state march past that opened the event, singing in Igbo language, “Where Otti leads, we shall follow, in every step, we stand with him.”
They used the occasion to publicly endorse reforms that have reshaped Abia’s education sector under Otti, whose administration has delivered what predecessors promised for decades but failed to execute.
Since taking office in 2023, Otti has committed over N14bn to school renovation and upgrading, recruited 5,394 new teachers, and waived school fees from primary one to Junior Secondary School (JSS 3).
This has reportedly led to a surge in public school enrollment as parents who couldn’t afford to send their wards to school can now do so without financial barriers.
The ongoing reforms include 20 Smart Schools under construction and the rehabilitation of 221 primary and secondary schools in the first phase.
Otti, at the launch of the Abia Fostering Innovation Reform School Transformation (AbiaFIRST) initiative in February, vowed that his administration would never “play second fiddle with the education sector as we shall lead from the front in terms of investments in infrastructure, recruitment of the best to teach and educate our children and personnel remuneration.”
The programme was designed as a comprehensive framework for education sector transformation through infrastructure development, teacher training, and recruitment to meet increasing school enrollments.
“AbiaFIRST Transformation Education programme is focused on strategic initiatives aimed at transforming the education sector in the State through sustained investments in development of school infrastructure, training and retraining of teachers on new trends, recruitment of quality teachers to cater for the rise in enrollment figures in our public schools,” Otti said.
The administration said AbiaFIRST was “not just about improving individual schools but a complete institutional reform that would transform education in Abia State.”
The initiative introduced digital learning platforms, a wholesome curriculum framework, professional teacher development, technical and vocational education, monitoring and evaluation systems, and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) integration.
The state’s newly recruited underwent a 12-day induction and training programme in Umuahia and Aba. It was facilitated by the Education Reform and Innovation Team (ERIT), consisting of 180 professionals specialised in educational technology and technical and vocational education training.
Training modules were tailored to different education levels, covering bilingual teaching, outdoor learning, trauma-informed care, classroom management, child protection, educational technology integration, adolescent leadership, inquiry-based learning, STEAM integration, project-based learning, and ICT training in digital literacy, robotics, artificial intelligence, and green energy integration.
Governor Otti hinged the recruitment and training exercise on UNESCO’s recommendation to meet Sustainable Development Goal 4 on quality education.
“As UNESCO warns of a 44 million teacher shortfall by 2030, Abia State is showing that vision, accountability, and investment can transform education. No child should be left behind,” Otti had stated.
In November 2024, the Abia government announced that free education would take effect in January 2025 and would cover all students regardless of state of origin. The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, had also announced that “In line with the Abia Child’s Rights Law 2006, it’s now an offence for parents not to send their children or wards to school because the Government has made education free and compulsory.
“The issue of indigency is no longer the reason for non-acquisition of free and basic education in Abia State,” Kanu said.
Under Otti, the Abia State Polytechnic, now Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, secured a N2bn TETFund Special High Impact Intervention grant. The institution was the only beneficiary of the programme in the South East among 18 state-owned polytechnics nationwide.
The funds are being used for the development of the institution’s Osisioma Campus, which will host lecture theatres, laboratories, hostels, and other structures for the next academic session. The institution plans to move operations to the campus starting from the next academic session.
Last month, Governor Otti signed the Educational Reforms Bill which introduced measures to reduce costs, curb extortion, and make education more affordable across public and private schools in the state. The legislation pegged the cost of obtaining a School Leaving Certificate at N2,000. Students were also prohibited from switching schools in Senior Secondary Two and were required to complete SS2 in the school where they intended to sit for WAEC and NECO examinations.
Students preparing to register for WAEC or NECO will now be required to first pass a Government Centralised Examination (GCE) conducted by the state to ensure that candidates meet minimum competency standards before external assessments.
