Abia State Governor Alex Otti has handed over the Certificate of Occupancy, CofO, of the land donated to the Federal government for the establishment of a Federal College of Education in Ofoeme.
While handing over land documents at Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South on Tuesday, the Governor also set up a four-man committee headed by the Secretary to the Abia State government, Professor Kenneth Kalu to ensure that the proposed September 2024 deadline set by the Federal Government for the takeoff of the institution is realized.
Otti at the event said although the state government already has a College of Education which his administration is working hard to retrieve from the ruins of abandonment, one college of education is not enough to train the number of teachers his state needs.
“We do have a College of Education here that has been abandoned over the years. We are working very hard to retrieve it – the state College of Education in Arochukwu. But, we strongly believe that one College of Education is not enough to train the kind of teachers and the numbers that we require”.
Governor Otti hinted that having already done what many considered ingenious by increasing the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years, his administration is considering extending it to 70 years with a discriminatory package to attract people to the teaching profession.
Otti pledged Abia’s support to the Federal government for the realization of the September deadline set to start the institution.