Mbah calls for national emergency in education

From Jude Chinedu, Enugu

Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has called for the declaration of a national emergency in the education sector, warning that Nigeria’s future prosperity depends on urgent and massive investment in human capital.

Mbah made the call, yesterday, at the 2026 Enugu Education Summit and unveiling of the Enugu State Education Policy at the International Conference Centre, Enugu.

The summit was themed, “Transforming education for the future: Leadership, innovation, partnership, financing, and sustainable reform.”

The governor said Nigeria had reached the stage where education must be treated as a national emergency, not merely in speeches but through increased funding, teacher development, infrastructure, and stronger partnerships among governments, development agencies, communities, and the private sector.

“I believe Nigeria has reached the point where we must treat education as a national emergency. Not rhetorically, but in our budgets, our teacher development, our infrastructure, the standards we demand, and the partnerships we build between the Federal Government, states, development agencies, communities, and the private sector,” he said.

Mbah argued that no country could eradicate poverty or achieve sustainable development without tackling the root causes of poverty, particularly lack of knowledge, skills, and capabilities. He said Nigeria must equip its young people to become creators of knowledge and wealth rather than mere consumers of what other countries produce.

“So, if Nigeria is to become a creation economy rather than a consumption economy, then we must equip our young people not simply to use what the world creates, but to research, design, engineer, and create what the world needs.

“The point here is straightforward: transformation cannot survive on aspiration alone. Eventually, somebody has to pay for it,” he said.

Mbah said Enugu had responded to the challenge by committing 33 percent of its annual budget to education for three consecutive years. He said the investment had supported the construction of 268 Smart Green Schools and more than 7,000 classrooms equipped with modern learning facilities.

“When we came into government, we could have repaired the existing system. We could have renovated some classrooms, supplied some desks, put computers into a few schools and called it reform.

“But we had to ask ourselves a more difficult question: would it be enough? Would an education system essentially designed for the world of 40 years ago prepare an Enugu child for the world of 20 years from now? Our answer was ‘No’,” he said.

Unveiling the Enugu State Education Policy, the governor said it was already being implemented and would serve as the benchmark for the sector over the next six to 10 years.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), British Council, and other stakeholders commended Mbah for making education the centrepiece of his administration’s development agenda.

UNICEF Country Representative to Nigeria, Wafaa Saeed, represented by the Chief of Field Office, Enugu, Juliet Chilewe, said the state had demonstrated strong commitment to education through investments in Smart Green Schools, teachers, foundational learning, digital literacy, and experiential learning. She said UNICEF was proud to have supported the development of the Enugu State Education Sector Plan 2026–2035.

UNESCO also commended Mbah, particularly for the 268 Smart Green Schools, the Centre for Experiential Learning and Innovation (CELI), and the plan to recruit more than 6,000 teachers.

Its Representative to Nigeria, Dr Isaias Barreto da Rosa, represented by the Officer-in-Charge of the Education Sector, Adeyemi Oladeji, described the Smart Green Schools initiative as a landmark achievement.

The event climaxed with the official unveiling of the Enugu State Education Policy and a tour of the Smart Green School Innovation Studio, featuring innovations developed by students of the state’s Smart Green Schools.