For Nigeria as a nation to move forward, its educational standard must also rise to an
admirable state. It would benefit the country as a whole if the educational system produced
well-educated people that will one day take charge of governance and inspire genuine
patriotism in every Nigerian citizen. The Akwa Ibom state governor, Udom Emmanuel buys
into this dream as he is treating education as a priority in Akwa Ibom state.

Since Governor Udom took the reigns as the governor of Akwa Ibom state, he has made
immense contributions and has thoroughly improved the educational sector in the state. Over
500 schools have been renovated and equipped with quality equipment and teachers required
to make learning a wonderful experience for the students. Speaking on the importance of
education, Governor Udom said, “We run free and compulsory education. People come from
neighbouring states to attend our public schools. If we train our children and leave the
children of our neighbours alone, they will later come to harm our children. We pay N600
million yearly as WAEC fees. We also focus on the recruitment of quality teachers.”

Emmanuel noted that education infrastructural development has led to an upsurge in school
enrolment. “We will continue to have free and compulsory education at primary and
secondary levels. We will also have education monitors to enhance quality of teaching and
learning,” he added.

Apart from the special attention placed on education, the government is also making efforts
to train the youth in Akwa Ibom to acquire a variety of skills. There is an arrangement to train
indigenes to acquire skills needed to work in the industries. A scheme was birthed to this
effect called the Akwa Ibom Enterprise Employment scheme (AKEES). Under this scheme,
more than 20,000 youths have been trained in the last three years.

These Employment and Skill Acquisition Centres have been established to promote the spirit
of enterprise among the youth and general populace of Akwa Ibom. No fewer than 317,000
people engaged in small and medium enterprises are captured; over 3,000 were trained on
ICT and many are employed in the agricultural sector for planting and nurturing of
vegetables, tomatoes and other crops in commercial quantities. An idle man they say is the
devil’s workshop and Governor Emmanuel is working tirelessly to eradicate unemployment
among the people of Akwa Ibom.

The attention governor Udom Emmanuel places on the educational sector shows that he is
education friendly. His improvement on the quality of education in both content and
discipline has earned youths an enviable future and has also secured for the state an
advantaged listing in Nigeria’s educational endeavour.