Alex Otti, governor of Abia State, has commended Methodist Church Nigeria for its plans to establish a university in the state.
Governor Otti gave the commendation when he played host to Oliver Abah, the prelate of Methodist Church Nigeria, who called on him with a retinue of Methodist archbishops and other bishops in his office.
The governor expressed excitement of the state over the proposed Methodist University, Umuimenyi, Bende LGA, assuring of the support of the government.
“We are very happy about it and we can assure you that any support that we can give, we will not hesitate to render it.
“There is no doubt that the Methodist Church has been a pioneer in missionary activities in Nigeria and of course, the health and education sectors of the economy.
“Setting up a university is one of the things you are known for. For us as a government, education is so important that it gets the largest allocation in every budget that we have approved since we came into office.
“It would be our pleasure to support you and partner with you in the establishment of this University,” Otti stated.
He directed his deputy chief of staff to work closely with them to ensure that the incident of land grabbing they complained about is settled and does not stop the church from continuing the project.
Otti informed the delegation that his administration was already building a road to the place, and noted that his administration is investing heavily in education, adding that he has consistently allocated 20 percent of the budget to education.
“In the 2024 budget, education got 20 percent of the total envelope. In 2025, it also got 20 percent. That’s why you will see that we are touching everywhere.
“Unfortunately, we inherited a dilapidated sector. Most of the schools were in terrible states of disrepair and the tertiary institutions were not left out.
“I visited the state university sometime in the year and I was shocked at what I saw. The hostels were in a terrible state, the cafeterias, the study theatres, everything was gone.
“We have taken a principled stand that we will rescue the university. As we speak, the hostels are undergoing massive renovation and new hostels are also being built.
“The cafeteria, I believe, should be completed any moment now. The backlog of salaries, we have cleared all of them,” Otti stated.
Abah, earlier in his speech, said that they came to seek partnership with the state government to establish a Methodist University at Umuimenyi in Bende Local Government Area of the state.
He noted that, there are some challenges noticed around Lodu, Lohum, and Nkpa areas, and appealed for immediate support especially in the area of warning land grabbers around the university.
He noted that Methodist Church Nigeria is the pioneer of education and educational institutions in Nigeria, adding that the initiative would contribute tremendously to the future development of Abia State and Nigeria at large.
“Methodist Church Nigeria has the record of being the pioneer of education and educational institutions, health institutions, and social welfare establishments in the space called Nigeria.
“We therefore seek a collaborative partnership to advance the establishment of the university in Abia State to complement the laudable and giant strides of our performing governor.
“We believe that this partnership will not only benefit our church, but also the entire State, as it will provide opportunities for young people to acquire knowledge and skills that will enable them to make meaningful contributions in nation-building.
The prelate congratulated Governor Alex Otti on the visible achievements of his administration and described him as a capacity governor, elected by God and man, and prayed for more upliftment for the governor.
