Abia government sets up committee to recover 180 public schools from former government officials

The Abia State Government has formed a special committee to retrieve all encumbered public schools that were reportedly taken over by state officials under the previous government.

The committee, led by Caleb Ajagba, Chief of Staff to the Governor, includes the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uche Eme Uche, as Secretary, as well as the Commissioners for Justice, Lands/Housing, Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, General Managers of the Umuahia Capital Development Authority and the Greater Aba Development Authority, and the Governor’s Chief Security Officer.

Okey Kanu, Commissioner for Information and Culture, made this known to journalists on Monday at Government House Umuahia while briefing them on the outcome of this week’s state executive council meeting, which was chaired over Governor Alex Otti.

He stated that the committee is entrusted with identifying around 180 public schools whose land has been taken over by officials and cronies of the previous administration.

According to him, the government would not allow the avarice and thoughtless impunity of a select few who have illegally taken over land belonging to government schools.

He also decried the misuse of schools returned to other organisations, emphasising that such institutions should be utilised solely for educational purposes.

Kanu stated that a full diagnostic assessment of the state’s educational sector has been completed, and that about 12,000 teachers in public schools will participate in a capacity-building program over the summer to prepare them for the newly restructured schools that the government plans to implement by September.