Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia
The new Federal College of Education (FCE), Ofeme Ohuhu Umuahia, Abia State, says it has continued to enjoy the support of its host community in its admission drive for pioneer students.
The pioneer Provost, Dr. Titus Ezeme stated this at the maiden matriculation ceremony for the pioneer NCE students last week.
According to him, the admission drive led to the enrolment of 150 students with 70 or 47 per cent of the student population being sponsored by some illustrious sons of the host community.
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Ezeme stated that the benefactors include two foreign-based medical practitioners, Dr. Michael Igwe and Dr. Chris Nwosu, who awarded scholarships to 30 and 20 students resectively, while Hon Anderson Akaliro and Chief Ifeanyi Anyaogu are sponsoring 10 students each.
He said that the maiden matriculation ceremony marked the “true birth” of the college, which commenced academic activities on June 24, 2025, two years after it was established through the presidential approval by late Muhammadu Buhari.
“The matriculation ceremony is not just about the formal admission of our pioneer students, it is a testimony that a seed planted with faith and nurtured with sacrifice can grow into a flourishing tree that will shelter many generations,” the provost said.
He noted that the new FCE has attracted interventions in infrastructural development from the federal government “as part of deliberate efforts to ensure its steady development.”
According to him, the Federal Ministry of Education has awarded contract for the construction of a 74-room female hostel, which “is already ongoing and has reached appreciable level of completion.”
Ezeme announced that the college has been allocated a take off-grant by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), adding that the contractor is expected to commence work soon on the selected projects for the grant.
He appealed to corporate organisations and public spirited individuals to assist the young FCE to get the facilities needed to attain its full potential and provide conducive environment for learning and research, as government cannot provide everything.
The provost said that the college is in need facilities like a multipurpose hall, modern lecture theatres and academic staff blocks, complexes for the approved schools, reliable generating set, college access road, modern library, modern administrative building, among others.
While assuring the students that their “welfare is, and will remain at the very heart of our mission”, he charged them to acquire the knowledge, skills, and discipline befitting true graduates of the institution.
The Chairman of the Governing Council, Hajia Rabia Hussain Adamu underscored the need to establish FCEs, saying that Nigeria is facing shortage of teachers, which has reached a crisis situation.
“We have a gap of about 1.2 million teachers. We need 1.2 million teachers minimum for Nigerian classes to be adequately provided for.
“The ratio that we have is supposed to be one teacher to 25 pupils. But there are schools in this country where you have one teacher to 300, one teacher to 400, one teacher to 500,” she said.
Hajia Adamu urged more people to develop interest in the teaching profession, stressing that “we need teachers, if there are no teachers, there is no future.”
