Stephanie Clems, Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has urged young Abia residents and Indigenes to embrace excellence, innovation, hard work and selfless service as 1,086 youths graduated from the 2026 Abia State Leadership Academy Youth Leadership Boot Camp.

The governor, who spoke at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia, on Saturday, from where the 2026 Abia State Leadership Academy Youth Leadership Boot Camp graduates were about to take off their duties in service to nation, was represented by the Chairman, Abia State Civil Service Commission, Pastor Eno Jerry Eze.

Governor Otti’s speech, which was on “The Leadership Vocation”, was delivered at the graduation ceremony held at the International Conference Centre in Umuahia, Abia State, on Saturday.

The function had been organized by the Abia State Leadership Academy in collaboration with the Enterprise Development Centre of Pan Atlantic University, Lagos.

The governor urged the new graduates to regard their graduation as the commencement of greater responsibility, challenging them to form mentoring clusters, share knowledge and skills acquired and mobilize their wards to be part of the New Abia change agents.

He said the New Abia was a transgenerational project that required patience, perseverance, partnerships and persistent efforts to make it happen.Governor Otti further noted his interest in seeing the ideas the graduates presented during their capstone presentations at the boot camp, as concepts to be implemented.

He challenged the new leaders to make Abia State the best state to live in, adding that the academy would keep a register of them and their contributions while charging them to invest in their personal development.

Chairman of the Abia State Civil Service Commission, Pastor Dr. Eno Jerry Eze, stated that out of the 1,086 graduates selected from over 7,000 applicants, the four-week rigorous boot camp themed, “Raising Transformational Leaders, Innovators and Change-makers,” had helped them acquire knowledge and skills in leadership, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

She noted that the boot camp was an embodiment of the state’s commitment to investing in its youths.

The President of the Abia State Leadership Academy, Prof Kenneth Kalu, said Governor Otti had done a tremendous thing by initiating the academy, adding that the youths should go back to their villages, towns, and communities to lead, add value, and transform based on the values and virtues learned.

He urged the new leaders to always remember to serve with integrity, compassion, and purpose as they continue to impact their immediate environment positively.

Stephanie Clems, Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti has granted automatic employment into the State Civil Service to the 19 best graduating students of Cohort 3 Abia TechRise ICT skills development program.

The governor on Thursday, August 21, 2026, during the graduation ceremony of 850 youths trained in the third cohort of the program at the JAAC Secretariat, Umuahia, announced the employment benefit for the new graduates.

He said the reward was the brainchild of his government, which was committed to creating an enabling environment for the best talents in each of the cohorts of the TechRise program, adding that they would help provide quality services in the civil service.

Governor Otti also donated N100,000 to each of the graduating youths and directed the organizers to forfeit the laptops they used for training as personal property.

He directed the Head of Service and the relevant ministries to carry out needs assessment on all government agencies and open positions requiring ICT expertise in the state and fill them with TechRise graduates.

The Governor also announced the creation of a special wage or salary structure for ICT professionals in the state’s civil service, subject to the condition.

He further emphasized that retaining the best talents in each cohort of the TechRise would add value to the State’s institutions and services through their skills and technology.

The governor challenged the fresh graduates to seek the knowledge and add value to their lives, saying the knowledge and skills they gained through the free training were better than the N100,000.

He urged them to turn their skills into businesses, innovations, or ideas to generate income while advising against the use of their skills for criminal activities.

The governor acknowledged the innovative skill of a few graduates who made a working drone and directed the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation to partner them on the idea to take it to the next level.

The governor also said his administration was ready to establish international examination and certification centers for ICT in Abia while collaborating with MTN to provide internet facilities in the state.

Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Uzor Nwachukwu, said the 100 percent free program, with 3 months of training, in partnership with the 17 local government areas, had so far trained 2,210 youths in three cohorts.

Meanwhile, the TechRise coordinator and CEO of LearnFactory, Engr. Chibueze Ukaegbu, said the free training program had also trained 2,500 civil servants in computers and would soon train 5,000 civil servants in computers.

Speaking on behalf of the graduates, Mr. Onuoha Victor Chinedu thanked Gov. Otti for giving them a platform to acquire the skills that will enable them to face their lives after studies.

By Editor, Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, OFR, has called on Nigerians to embrace digital and distance education as the way to go in the contemporary time.

Governor Otti was speaking, while receiving in audience a delegation of the management of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) led by Professor Uduma Orji Uduma in his office.

Governor. Otti recounted that it was the NOUN that pioneered virtual learning in Nigeria.

“It is interesting that National Open University of Nigeria pioneered an effort decades ago when the world had not gone virtual. But today, I sit here and hold meetings with people in New York and Singapore.

“That is what learning has become. Distance, Open, Virtual, Zoom, Google meet and all the platforms for distance learning and virtual meetings have become the order of the day.

“So, we have no choice but to embrace it,” Gov. Otti stated. Governor Otti approved the citing of the Aba Study Centre of the NOUN, and directed the Commissioner for Tertiary Education to do a feasibility study on how to fix and upgrade the Umuahia study centre.

This was in response to the requests made by the Vice Chancellor of the institution.

“On your request to support in upgrading the place (Umuahia centre), I would like the Honourable Commissioner for Tertiary Education to take that up together with other members of the team.

“Let’s have a look and see how we can support them to upgrade the place.”On the request for a study centre in Aba, I think that one is a no-brainer. It has to be done.”So, the General Manager of the Greater Aba Development Authority (GADA), please take that up and let’s find a place for them.

“Maybe we need to find a place that they will operate from on a temporary basis. Because before you start and finish building, it will probably take a long time.”So, you can start from a temporary place. We will now be thinking of a permanent site, which will be a fairly long-term project,” Gov. Otti said.

The State Chief Executive, who thanked them for the good job that they were doing at National Open University of Nigeria and for establishing a study centre in Asaga Ohafia as well as the one in the State capital, congratulated the Vice Chancellor on his position.

The Governor noted that his government pays a lot of attention to education, saying that, in the last three years, he had committed 20% of the annual budget to education, disclosing that, soon, he would be commissioning three smart schools within the month.

Earlier, the Leader of the delegation and Vice Chancellor of NOUN, Professor Uduma Orji Uduma said that the visit was to solicit for partnership with the Governor for the establishment of a study centre in Aba, describing Open and distant learning as the way to go in the 21st Century.

While noting that the University has 120 Study Centres across Nigeria with only 8 in the South East region, Professor Uduma appealed to the State government to partner with the University to secure land for the establishment of a study centre in Aba to enable more Abia people enjoy the gains of open and distant learning, in addition to fixing and upgrading the existing Umuahia study centre.

He appreciated the transformation projects of Governor Alex Otti in the State and maintained that the people across the country are happy about his people oriented development strides.