By Izuchukwu Adichie
Soludo has achieved a landmark feat as the first governor in Nigeria to employ 8,115 teachers in less than two years in office to ensure access to quality education in Anambra state. This historic achievement reflects his intentional commitment to addressing critical needs and delivering essential services from the outset of his governorship.
Today, Soludo proudly holds the record of being the first governor in Nigeria’s history to employ 8,115 teachers in less than two years in office. This includes the recruitment of 5,000 teachers in his first eight months in office and the approval of an additional 3,115 employees eight months later.
Soludo’s administration is not just putting an end to the era of classrooms without teachers. He has implemented a 10% increase in the salaries of workers across the board. Additionally, his administration has distributed 2,000 laptops to headteachers and principals of schools. Furthermore, Soludo has successfully resolved the longstanding issue of UBEC Counterpart funding by settling a 4-year counterpart funding arrears with Universal Basic Education, resulting in the disbursement of billions of Naira grants from UBEC to ASUBEB.
Moreover, Soludo has allocated N1.524 billion in grants to the returned mission schools in the state and N700 million for mission tertiary institutions, totalling N2.224 billion. The state government has also dedicated approximately N1 billion to the payment of teachers’ salaries in mission-public schools. Notably, for the first time, no child in public school is required to pay any levy or fee of any kind. Additionally, senior secondary students now pay no more than N5,000, and this amount is retained within schools for operational expenses. Soludo’s administration has also introduced the public-private community partnership (PPCP) model of ownership.