The World Bank Lead Governance Specialist, Ms. Deborah Isser, has commended the Abia State Government for its commitment to strengthening human capital development particularly in Education and Healthcare Sectors.
Ms. Isser made the remark on Sunday, during a visit to Governor Alex Otti by the World Bank Team as part of their Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE) programme series.
She explained that the delegation was in Abia for a study tour which focuses on HOPE Education and HOPE Health.
According to the World Bank Lead Governance Specialist, Abia was selected as the first State due to its notable progress in Human Capital Development in Education and Healthcare as well as its strong implementation of the Primary Health Care Under One Roof (PHCUOR) policy.
“We recognize the efforts your administration is making to improve governance, education, and healthcare in Abia”, Ms. Isser stated.
She expressed readiness for continued collaboration to support subnational reforms under the HOPE program and pledged the World Bank’s backing for Abia’s governance, Education, and Healthcare initiatives.
In his response, Governor Otti who expressed gratitude to the World Bank team for their visit and reaffirmed his administration’s determination to restore the dignity of Abians through quality Education and Healthcare delivery.
He explained that his administration’s HOPE Governance, HOPE Health, and HOPE Education initiatives align with the World Bank’s goals of good governance and Human Capital Development.
“We are just doing our modest efforts to see we can change our story and ensure that we restore the dignity of our people.
“And how do you do that? Except through education, most importantly and of course health. If they are not healthy there is nothing like dignity. If they are healthy and not well educated they can’t even communicate.
“So, when you talk about HOPE Governance , HOPE Health and HOPE Education, all those are just about the same things that we are doing here trying to give good governance to the people”, Governor Otti stated.
The Governor recalled that upon assumption of office in 2023, he met a deteriorating Healthcare and Education system but has since embarked on remarkable reforms.
“When we came in 2023, we realised that the state of health care delivery system and the educational system were quite in shambles”, he noted.
Governor Otti expressed concern over the ongoing brain drain in the Healthcare sector and announced plans to commence procurement of equipment for the newly renovated Primary Healthcare Centers, with capacity building for existing health care givers to commence soon.
On Education, the Governor who blamed the collapse in the standard of Education on dilapidated nature of infrastructure ,said he was embarrassed over the level of infrastructural decay in Abia state University Uturu, which he personally inspected and assured that his administration is working to reverse the decay and restore the state’s academic excellence.
He assured the delegation that details of achievements in basic education, healthcare, and related sectors would be presented during their tour of relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
