Abia State has been chosen by the federal government is one of the six states for Human Capital Opportunity for Prosperity and Equity, HOPE symposium in Ghana organized by the federal government in partnership with the World Bank.
The state Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu disclosed this Monday while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the week’s State Executive Council, EXCO meeting chaired by the state governor, Alex Otti, stating “The reason for choosing Abia State is as a result of the focus on the state due to the ongoing reforms in the state in the health sector.”
He said that the programme which is a biphasic initiative between the World Bank and the Federal Republic of Nigeria is tagged HOPE which stands for Human Capital Opportunity for Prosperity and Equity.
He further announced that the Abia State Government, ABSG has shifted the resumption date for public and private primary and secondary schools in the state from 16th to 23rd September, 2024.
According to the Commissioner, “The shift in the earlier date is occasioned by a public holiday that would fall on the 16th of September which is a Muslims’ holiday”
He informed that Abia First Teachers Training programme which commenced earlier and trained 200 master trainers would recommence on 11th through 24th September 2024, with the remaining batch of 1,800. He added that this time around, the training would hold in 3 centres of Aba, Umuahia and Ohafia.
“The training is part of the wider agenda of the state government with regards to the reformation of the education sector in the state and forms part of the protocol for the resumption of schools for the new academic year ” Prince Kanu stated.
The Commissioner revealed that the Governor has directed landlords in Aba whose buildings have no approved building plans to strive to obtain one. According to him, the Governor has granted those affected 90 days moratorium within which to obtain their building approval certificate through the payment of the old rate for such approval.
“If they have to pay for it at the new rate , they would complain but the Governor had directed that they pay at the old rate as a way of encouraging them to go ahead and obtain the certificates.
“This of course , is another instance of the Governor’s compassionate disposition towards implementation of government policies and programmes” Kanu noted.
While maintaining that the Light up Abia Initiative is still ongoing and spreading to various areas of the State with 4,346 solar lights already installed across 86 locations within the state. He noted that it is in fulfilment of the need to make the towns and cities in the state more comfortable for residents and to improve security in all the affected areas.
Prince Kanu also announced that the Abia Electricity Bill has scaled through second reading at the State House of Assembly. He expressed the hope that the House members would fast track the passage of the bill upon their resumption from recess.
He stressed that, “The passage of the bill will give further impetus to the ongoing reforms in the power sector in the state”.
Contributing, the Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Engr. Ikechukwu Monday , who described the Abia Electricity Bill as an all encompassing law said the government has been working on the law for quite a while.
He explained that the passage of the bill into law would give the state government the opportunity to own power assets and to regulate the sector.
“The content of this law , at the end of the day when it comes into effect , will give us the mandate to establish the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority. It will also give us the mandate to establish the Abia State Rural Electrification Agency.”
