Ebonyi State faces high illiteracy rates, yet Governor Nwifuru hasn’t addressed it, says Alex Onyia
Governor Francis Ogbonna Erishi Nwifuru is the current governor of Ebonyi State, Nigeria, having assumed office in 2023. Born on February 25, 1975, he is also a lawyer and politician. Before becoming governor, he served as the speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly from June 2015 to May 2023.
Nwifuru represented the Izzi West constituency in the Ebonyi State legislature from 2011 to 2023. He initially belonged to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but switched to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2020.
Nwifuru’s electoral victory as governor was marked by receiving 199,131 votes in the 2023 Ebonyi gubernatorial election. He has an educational background that includes a master’s degree in Procurement, Logistics, and Supply Chain Management from Salford University in the UK.
Alex Onyia is the CEO of Educare, the leading education technology platform in Africa for K-12, serving over 1 million students and 300,000 parents.
He has been the CEO since March 2019 and is focused on providing digital classroom solutions including student information systems, learning management, assessment, and family engagement tools.
Onyia also leads Winexviv International Limited as CEO, a company active in technology development programs in Sub-Saharan Africa to grow the tech ecosystem using web and mobile platforms.
He studied Agricultural & Bio-resources Engineering at the University of Nigeria and holds a certification as a Certified Internet Webmaster.
Alex Onyia has been vocal about educational issues in Ebonyi State, highlighting concerns about high illiteracy and the government’s lack of attention to education there. He has also engaged in conversations about improving Nigeria’s education system overall.
Alex Onyia has described the level of illiteracy in Ebonyi State as shocking and criticized the government, specifically Governor Francis Ogbonna Erishi Nwifuru, for showing a lack of concern about this serious issue.
Onyia expressed that Ebonyi State is in a sorry state due to the high illiteracy rate, and he accused the government of not caring about the problem.
Onyia condemnation highlights a perception of negligence or insufficient attention by the state’s leadership towards addressing literacy challenges in Ebonyi State
Recent discussions on social media highlight a sorry situation in Ebonyi concerning literacy, indicating that the government does not care about the rising illiteracy levels.
In terms of statistics, Ebonyi State has a literacy rate of about 77.76%, ranking it 19th among the most educated states in Nigeria. However, this still indicates that almost 22% of the population may be illiterate.
Ebonyi also has challenges with out-of-school children, with efforts previously made by former Governor David Umahi to tackle illiteracy through programs aiming to end out-of-school cases by 2022, but it seems the current administration is perceived as inactive on this front.
The problem of illiteracy in Ebonyi is compounded by various factors including parental negligence, socio-cultural complexities, poverty, and child labor.
Previous government initiatives provided free uniforms, books, food, and aimed to encourage schooling to reduce illiteracy and insecurity linked to lack of education.
Despite these efforts, the current general sentiment is one of disappointment in the government’s response to the ongoing literacy crisis in Ebonyi State.
