He dropped a message on LinkedIn: “Dear Sir. Ndubuisi Ekekwe, kindly extend our heartfelt appreciation of these Nigerians to Alex Otti, the Executive Governor of Abia State, Nigeria. As I watch these Nigerians soaked in the euphoria of celebration, I am quick to reminisce on my own sojourn.” [He was commenting on the news that years-long unpaid benefits of Abia State Polytechnic staff have been paid. Most of those workers danced and jubilated].
My Response: “Thanks for the kind words on Abia State. I have passed the message to His Excellency, Governor Otti. He appreciates the kind wishes, but at the same time he knows that all Abians must dance, not just Abia Polytechnic workers who were owed salaries for years by previous governments. The aspiration of Governor Otti is that farmers, carpenters, teachers, doctors, students, workers, and everyone will DANCE in Abia because their lives are working. He is leading to make that possible, and seeks all ABIANS to join in building that state where everyone will jubilate and dance.”
On Saturday, I attended 4 different programs where three commissioners and Chief of State were involved. I looked at the time, it was 12 midnight in Nigeria, and the men and women were still working as though they just woke up. Later, I provided an update to His Excellency, and to my surprise, he responded. I responded and he responded.
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Today, one of the signs of that hardwork is here: “The National Examination Council (NECO) has announced the release of the 2024 Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) internal result…, with Abia State leading the table….On the performance front, Abia State emerged as the top-performing state in the country, with 83.40% of its candidates scoring five credits, including Mathematics and English. Abia State also led in the overall pass rate, with 95.84% of students achieving five credits irrespective of these two core subjects.”
Sure, more work ahead. But we will celebrate this small win. Abia State used to be top-3 in Nigeria, but we dropped outside the top 10. But upon inauguration of Governor Otti, a key strategic objective was to return to the top-3 within four years. I am happy we are #1 within a year. The future of Abia is anchored on educating its young people; upon inauguration, nothing was spared to ensure our schools are back to maximum efficiency.
I congratulate the students, our teachers and the education leaders of our state for this. This is a validation that we can hit 99% literacy rate by 2030 so that illiteracy will be forever banished in God’s Own State.
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
Member, Abia State Economic Advisory Council
Co-Chair, Abia State Economic Transformation Council
Board Member, Abians in Diaspora Commission
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