ENUGU PPSMB:
Changing The Narrative Of Public Secondary Schools With Dr. Mrs Favour Ugwuanyi

In history, countless inspiring stories about women‘s conquests and exploits span from science to commerce, leadership to politics, academia, and the corporate environment. These stories speak of personalities committed to changing history for the better, displaying courage, breakthroughs, resilience, and uncommon determination. In Nigeria, names such as Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, Chimamanda Adichie, Folunsho Alakija, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Hajiya Gambo Sawaba, and Queen Amina Zazzau unlock a sense of endless possibilities and give assurances that women are not confined to traditional roles like cooking, caring for children, and taking care of the family.

Enugu, the coal city, is rising from the ashes of its industrial past to embrace a new dawn. Its hills and valleys bear witness to the resilience of a city that refuses to be subdued, just like Dr. Mrs. Favour Ugwuanyi, mni, who embodies the unwavering spirit of Enugu and has become a beacon of hope for its people. Its streets breathe life into the stories of its people, who sing of triumph, struggle, and hope, weaving together a tapestry of a city that wears its scars with pride. Dr. Mrs. Favour Ugwuanyi‘s success story in the administration of public secondary schools in Enugu state adds to the vibrant fabric of Enugu‘s history.

Although Dr. Favour is a woman who is rewriting history, making her generation proud, and giving different dimensions to what womanhood represents, her name holds various meanings for different people. Her radical approach to managing public secondary schools stands tall among her litany of accomplishments. Public secondary schools in Enugu state have always enjoyed the tremendous support of the current Governor of Enugu, and Dr. Favour Ugwuanyi’s appointment as Chairman of the Post Primary Secondary Schools Management Board (PPSMB) in 2022 has further reaffirmed the government’s commitment to quality education.Dr. Favour, the embodiment of hard work, resilience, and courage, commences her day at 8:00 am and concludes at 11:30 am, dedicating herself to the needs of secondary school teachers, principals, and students drawn from over 300 public secondary schools in Enugu state. Since her assumption as the Chairman, she has restored discipline to public secondary schools through constant monitoring, supervision, and stringent policies that have uprooted indolence, indiscipline, cultism, examination malpractices, among other malfeasances that characterize public secondary schools in Nigeria. Today, public secondary schools in Enugu state still occupy a vantage and strategic position in the education of children in Enugu state, which is lacking in many states of the federation.

Success, as we know it, does not usually come by accident; it is a product of hard work, resilience, a commitment to doing what is right, and abhorring what is wrong. Under the leadership of Dr. Favour, Enugu State emerged as the first position in the South-East and second in the entire nation in the results of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in 2022. This rare feat was made possible through her effective policies, reward and punishment mechanisms, and massive infrastructural investments across the three senatorial districts of the state. In less than two years since becoming the Chairman of the Board, Dr. Favour has successfully repositioned public secondary schools in Enugu state, as they can now comfortably and favorably compete with their private counterparts.

As a woman of class and quality, Dr. Favour creates world-class opportunities for the secondary schools she supervises. As of today, the public secondary schools across the state recruit and retain the best teachers. She encourages hard work and professionalism through constant training and retraining of teachers. For her, if it is not the best, then it is not worth her attention. No wonder the principals of all the public secondary schools in Enugu state enjoyed world-class training from well-experienced, versatile, and renowned resource persons and policy-makers drawn from the nation‘s apex institute, the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru-Jos in April 2022. The training covered different spectrums, including resource management, stress management, educational management, planning, stakeholder engagement, and work ethics, which has bolstered the capacity of the principals to perform wonders in their various schools.

The success stories of the Enugu state Post-Primary Schools Management Board cannot be complete without mentioning Rt Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the Executive Governor of Enugu State. As a man of honour and integrity, he is known for putting the right person in the right place, and the appointment of Dr. Favour is a testimony to that rare virtue. After the appointment, the Governor has been providing the necessary support in terms of finance, political will, and moral support, ensuring that the children get the best education.

Let it be stated that when the history of public secondary education is written, it will be said that a godly, competent, fair, and firm woman was appointed as the Chairman of the Post-Primary School Management Board (PPSMB), and her tenure brought about significant improvements in public schools. No doubt, with Dr. Favour at the helm, the future of public secondary education in Enugu is secure. At the moment, knowing that education is too important to be left in the hands of the government alone, the Board is open to collaboration and partnerships with philanthropic, governmental, and non-governmental organizations to enhance the government‘s efforts and achieve even more. For public secondary schools, the best is not enough, but through constant investment and reinvestment, public secondary schools in the state will remain the best.