Abia State Government has announced plans to recruit additional 4000 teachers to ensure that every public school has adequate, well-trained, and motivated manpower.
Governor Alex Otti, who disclosed this when he played host to the Board of Trustees of Lux Mundi University, Umuahia, led by Ahmed Abubakar Audi, a professor and alternate chair of the Board of Trustees of the institution, said that the 5,364 new teachers, engaged recently, were not enough to contain the continued upsurge in enrollment in public schools.
The Lux Mundi Board came to inform the Governor about a partnership with the Home Health Aid Training Institute, United States of America (USA), which will see 50 of their students travel to the United States next month for an exchange programme with the institute and also to invite the governor to their 2nd matriculation programme, held Friday, July 18, 2025.
Governor Otti, who was delighted to hear the cheering news, said, “For us in the state, the major things you put on the table-education and health, are part of our agenda since we came in 2023.
“In the last 24 months, we have allocated 15% of our budget to health and 20% to education.
Governor Otti, explained that he decided to tackle the challenges his administration inherited in the education and health sectors from the root cause.
“We found that the number of out-of-school children was actually increasing. We looked at the whole situation, on a Monday or Tuesday, you see children of school age hawking things, like Akara, Groundnut, and other items. When we checked, we found out that it was because of school fees that a lot of them could not afford to go to school.
“Therefore, from the beginning of (2025) this year, we removed school fees and education became free and compulsory at the basic level,” the Governor stated.
The governor disclosed that the free education policy of his government led to an upsurge in school enrollment, which threw up a huge manpower challenge to the already existing problem of lack of teachers, as well as the need to fix the dilapidated schools, as the learning environment is also important.
Governor Otti also said: “First of all, we tried to make teaching attractive, by improving their pay and also making all the total compensation package more attractive than even the Civil Service.”
He explained that the employment of 5,364 new teachers was not enough to contain the continued upsurge in enrollment in public schools, noting that government is processing the employment of an additional 4000 teachers to ensure that every school has adequate, well-trained, and motivated manpower.
“The fact that your parents are not rich should not deny you the opportunity to go to school,” Otti said.
On health, the governor disclosed that his administration inherited a dysfunctional Primary Healthcare system in dilapidation and lacking in manpower, saying that none of the 948 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) was working. “The first thing we did was to design a minimum standard template for Primary Healthcare Centres,” the governor said.
On the ongoing renovation, remodeling, and retrofitting of 200 PHCs, he said, “At the last count, 138 have been completely retrofitted, with the remaining 62 making it 200 to be completed soon. We have commissioned those that we have fitted properly. The last one was in Bende.”
On the ongoing recruitment of more manpower into the health sector, the Governor said, “As we are rolling out the Primary Healthcare Centres, we also found that there was scarcity of healthcare professionals.
“We have also tried to upgrade the compensation package for healthcare professionals in the State, and I just gave approval for the hiring of 771 of them. The recruitment portal is open currently.
“We have to be deliberate about policies that would help our healthcare workers stay.”
He explained that people who ordinarily would not have access to healthcare, now have access to healthcare by the fixing of the Primary Healthcare Centres and other investments in the health sector.
He commended the Board of Trustees and management of Lux Mundi University for introducing Nursing and Health Services among the course they offer and assured them of the continued support of the State Government wherever it can.
“I’m glad that you introduced faculty of Nursing and Health Services and I’m sure we would be able to partner one way or the other,” he said.
Otti thanked Mario Santiago, chief executive of America Home Aid Health Training Institute, Westbury, New York, USA, who came to Nigeria to profile the 50 students of Nursing Science of Lux Mundi University, approved, by the American Government for student exchange programme next month, for the partnership and assured her that she would not regret it.
He equally commended, Gabriel Okenwa,
founder and pro-chancellor of the University, for establishing the University, noting that not a lot of people can do that, because the profit does not come quickly.
Mario Santiago expressed her gratitude to Otti for trusting the University, saying that she was grateful to be in the governor’s presence.
She assured that she would do everything she can to support the University to succeed.
Gabriel Okenwa, founder and pro-chancellor of Lux Mundi University, thanked Governor Otti, for his transformative leadership in the state, saying that he had written a book in 2014 on transformative leadership, which he used Governor Otti, as a case study.
He explained that what is happening in the state under Governor Otti’s visionary leadership is the fulfillment of the content of the book.
He informed the governor that the University was growing, attracting collaborations with international organisations like the America Home Aid Health Training Institute, whose Chief Executive (Maria Santiago), came to profile 50 nursing students of the University, who would be leaving for the United States of America in August for an exchange programme.
