Jacob Ogodo, Abakaliki
Students and stakeholders in the education sector have lauded the various interventions of Governor Francis Nwifuru’s administration in the education sector.
They made their position known after embarking on a tour of selected state’s tertiary institutions and projects of the Governor.
Led by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Students Mobilisation, Hon Angela Odono, the group visited state’s institutions including the Ebonyi State University of ICT, Science and Technology, Oferekpe; Ebonyi State College of Education, Ikwo; and Ebonyi State College of Nursing Sciences.
Speaking to journalists, Odono, said the exercise was less about political rhetoric and more about putting records, beneficiaries and physical projects before the public.
“In recent times, we heard claims in certain quarters that the present administration has not achieved anything or has done little of what other states have done.
“Today, the Ebonyi State students and indeed the entire student stakeholders in the education sector, we consider it necessary to bring the conversation back to the facts.”
She said education had been made a central component of the administration’s People’s Charter of Needs, pointing particularly to postgraduate scholarships awarded to Ebonyi indigenes in Nigeria and abroad.
“The current administration has made education a central component of its People’s Charter of Need. The state government has publicly highlighted local and foreign postgraduate course scholarship intervention, including the scholarship for Ebonyi State graduates in universities within Nigeria and overseas,” Odono said.
According to her, during the 2024/2025 academic session, 204 graduates were selected for overseas postgraduate scholarships, while 700 were enrolled for local postgraduate studies.
“204 graduates had been sent to study and do their postgraduate scholarship overseas, while 700 were enrolled for a local postgraduate scholarship. In 2025/2026, we had 101 foreign students doing their programmes overseas. And we also have 500 students doing their local education here in Ikwo, that’s the College of Education, Ikwo. We also have 443 persons doing their local studies here in EBSU. These are not merely figures on papers,” Odono said.
However, behind the figures, she argued, are stories of young people whose educational journeys have been sustained and whose families financial burdens have also been reduced.
“Behind every scholarship is a young Ebonyi whose academic journey has been sustained, a family whose financial burden has been reduced, and a future that has been given another opportunity,” she said.
Odono said the inspection was designed to allow journalists, students and other stakeholders to see some of the projects and interventions for themselves.
“We want members of the press to see what His Excellency has done. We want the students to see what His Excellency has done. We want the stakeholders to see what His Excellency has equally done. This is why we have initiated the stakeholder forum across the education sector. And we are not afraid to show them that a government that claims to serve its people is prepared to show its work.”
She also called on students to approach public discourse with responsibility, particularly as social media continues to shape public opinion.
“Let me state it clearly that the students of Ebonyi State will continue to take a keen interest in policies and programmes that affect their education, the welfare and the future.”
She added, “Let us not manufacture figures or make claims when we cannot sustain them. Our defence of any government programme must be based on facts, documents, photographs, beneficiaries, testimonies and that we can independently verify. That is how responsible students contribute to the public discourse.”
On his part, the Executive Secretary of the board, Dr Ekpoma Steven, said the scholarship initiative had attracted attention beyond Ebonyi, recounting a visit to the Federal Ministry of Education.
“When we went to the Federal Ministry of Education sometime early this year, the minister told us that they are surprised that the number of students as big as 300 are in the UK courtesy of the state government,” he said.
According to him, 204 students were selected for the first foreign scholarship cohort, while another group subsequently travelled, as some courses required additional arrangements.
He explained that the programme was based on merit rather than political connections.
“It is purely on merit, and that is why even when some people begin to mesmerise themselves and say it is for governor’s cronies, it is unfortunate that people don’t have facts and they keep misrepresenting the programme that is purely on merit.”
Ekpoma said beneficiaries were selected without political, material or societal influence.
“Anybody who is there is there on merit.”
He said the different cohorts eventually brought the number of Ebonyi students undertaking postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom to 304.
He also noted that beneficiaries from the first cohort had completed their master’s programmes and were progressing to doctoral studies.
The scholarship, according to officials, extends beyond overseas education.
Eze Kingsley Ogochukwu, Coordinator of the FON Scholarship Educare Initiative, said hundreds of students had also benefited from local scholarship interventions.
He disclosed that of the 700 students initially approved for local scholarships in the first batch, 520 eventually enrolled, with some already completing their programmes.
In the 2025/2026 session, he said, additional categories of beneficiaries were included.
Among them, he mentioned 63 Class 21 Law students, 43 first-class graduates of Ebonyi State University who were employed by the institution and enrolled in the scholarship programme, students studying foreign languages at the Federal University Ndufu-Alike, and 500 students enrolled at the College of Education, Ikwo.
He also cited 187 students from the first Information and Communication Technology programme at Oferekpe.
“All these are targeted on developing human beings because if you develop one person, you have developed the necessary lineage,” Ogochukwu said.
He argued that the impact of human-capital development could extend beyond the immediate visibility of physical infrastructure.
“The ripple effect of human empowerment through education is something that goes beyond cutting a ribbon or commissioning a project. Because if you empower somebody today, the person will come back tomorrow to build whatever you felt you should have built with the money you used to train the person.”
Ogochukwu said the scholarship model had also attracted interest from outside Ebonyi.
“Just recently, the Enugu State government asked us to come and show them the template. They want to enrol 100 students, which is only 50 foreign and then the rest local,” he said.
He encouraged young people to pay greater attention to science and technology, arguing that the future of the economy would increasingly depend on technological skills.
For one of the beneficiaries, the significance of the intervention goes beyond receiving a certificate.
Speaking on behalf of scholarship beneficiaries, a representative said the programme should be viewed as an investment in Ebonyi’s future rather than a personal gift to individual students.
“This scholarship is not a gift. It’s an investment and it’s a call for responsibility, meaning that we owe all Ebonyians, the people of Ebonyi State, to be able to give back at the end of this education system, this programme that is going on.”
The beneficiary said the ultimate expectation was that trained Ebonyians would return with the skills needed to contribute to the development of the state.
“We are assuring Ebonyians that we are not going to disappoint them. And I believe in the next two or three years, just like our principal has said, all these beneficiaries you are hearing about, when they come back, we are not going to be expecting expatriates to come to Ebonyi to develop Ebonyi.”
According to the speaker, many of the beneficiaries were graduating with distinctions, while local scholars were also recording strong academic performances.
At the Ebonyi State University of ICT, Science and Technology, Oferekpe, officials said construction of key facilities was nearing completion.
The Students’ Union President, Ucheji Cosmos Ejike, pointed to the completed staff quarters and a school building said to be about 98 per cent complete.
“For example, the school staff quarters are completed, and the school building is 98% completed. Some other structures are included in place, including other amenities in the school, ongoing repeatedly. And because of that, we say a big thank you to the governor,” he said.
At the university, Vice-Chancellor Engineer Professor Ernest Itumo Egba said the institution was preparing to commence academic activities at the new site.
He said the university had given October 5 as the target date for relocation.
“Yesterday, the governor and the stakeholders of the state were here. After taking a look at what is happening, the governor is still insisting that 5th October is 5th October. He said he will do his wonders, starting our 2026-2027 academic session. And our students will bear witness with me that we are going to start here by God’s grace.”
The vice-chancellor described the institution as Nigeria’s first university focused specifically on ICT, saying its curriculum was designed around the needs of major technology industries.
The university, he explained, seeks to ensure that students acquire professional certifications in addition to their university degrees.
“The idea is before a student graduates here from any discipline, if the person wants to learn and wants to acquire or to become successful, certified by international big tech industries, they are free, and we train them in a way that they will achieve, like not less than six certificates outside the certificate that UICT will give them.”
He said interest in the institution was already growing, with the university’s intake for the coming session put at 1,100 students.
At Ebonyi State College of Education, Ikwo, officials described the governor’s intervention as significant to the institution’s expansion.
Professor Benedict Mba, the institution’s Provost, said the government had consistently allocated significant attention to education and that the college had benefited from the administration’s interventions.
He cited regular payment of salaries, free transportation for staff living in town and the scholarship scheme for students.
“As it concerns tertiary education and the Ebonyi State College of Education in particular, the government has done a lot,” he said.
“The students study here without paying school fees. They study under a scholarship. The government takes care of the tuition fee of every student here, accommodation and living expenses.”
He also highlighted the institution’s transition from an NCE-awarding college to a degree-awarding institution following legislation by the state government.
The Registrar of the college, Akpokwa Emmanuel Sunday, said the transformation had been accompanied by a dramatic increase in student enrolment.
According to him, the institution’s population, which was previously below 50 students, had risen to 579 following the government interventions and scholarship programme.
“This place was completely like a moribund institution. With the intervention of the government, there are a lot of things. A lot of things,” he said.
The tour also took the stakeholders to the Ebonyi State College of Nursing Sciences, Uburu, in the Ohoazara Local Government area of the state where the Provost, Mrs Patricia Nwekwegu, highlighted completed and ongoing projects.
She said the classroom block had been completed and contained eight classrooms, departments, a small library and other facilities.
Attention was also drawn to an ongoing female hostel project expected to provide accommodation for hundreds of students.
“The female hostel is about 560 rooms that will house like 860 students. It’s still ongoing. You can see the workers are there. It’s the courtesy of His Excellency,” Nwekwegu said.
She linked the investment to the need to train more health professionals and prepare young people for roles in the state’s health sector.
“His Excellency is not sleeping in the health sector, especially on how to bring the students up and how to train them because they are our future healthcare workers.”
Collins Ogbonna, President of the National Association of Ebonyi State Students, cited improvements in electricity, roads and other facilities around educational institutions.
He said students had experienced changes in infrastructure at institutions including the Ebonyi State University, Federal University Ndufu-Alike, College of Education and the ICT university.
Ucheji Cosmos Ejike similarly said students at Oferekpe appreciated the government’s investment in their institution.
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