Akwa Ibom’s governor also promised ₦500,000 to each of the state’s 1,776 registered private schools for their teachers and ordered the hiring of 2,000 more teachers.
Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno has declared a total state of emergency on the state’s education sector.
He also announced cash gifts for teachers.
He spoke on Monday at the Uyo Township Stadium, at the 2026 World Teachers’ Day celebration.
Each of the 20,000 teachers employed by the state government will receive a ₦50,000 wardrobe allowance.
The state’s 1,776 registered private schools will also get ₦500,000 each, to be used for their own teachers.
The governor said the money lets those schools show appreciation to their staff.
On hiring, Eno approved the employment of 2,000 more teachers. This comes on top of the 1,000 hired recently.
The application portals will open soon, and applicants will take a computer-based test.
However, he warned that a perfect score does not guarantee a job.
Under the emergency, the Deputy Governor, who is also a teacher, will work with the Commissioner for Education.
They will set up a team to review the whole education sector.
The governor also listed what his government has done so far.
It has released ₦15 billion as SUBEB’s matching grant, and it says it meets that grant every year.
It has also stepped into more than 100 schools and kept paying teachers’ gratuity.
In addition, the state has kept education free and compulsory.
It has registered 172,000 students for WASSCE and NECO and paid their examination fees.
Eno named Prof Philip Afangha as Vice Chancellor of the Akwa Ibom University of Education.
He asked him to start work on the accreditation the institution needs. The rest of the management team will be named before the end of the week.
Finally, he promised to give teachers the tools they need to work.
He also told the Interministerial Committee to take over the unfinished Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) house and complete it within six months.
