From Village Schools to London’s Premier Institutions: How Gov. Umo Eno is Transforming the Lives of 39 Public School Students in Akwa Ibom

By Ubon Marcus

39 students of Akwa Ibom origin, selected from rural schools in the state, have been sent to London, United Kingdom, by the state government on a learning tour to schools in the London Borough of Southwark.

They were selected through a transparent process as follows: Best-performing students from public secondary schools in rural areas of the state were selected and made to undergo an examination that qualified them to be selected as participants of the state government’s education exchange programme, a novel initiative of the Umo Eno administration, orchestrated in furtherance of the State Chief Executive’s educational ideals as enshrined in the ARISE agenda.

Gov Umoh

Thanks to Gov. Umo Eno, these students, who are leaving the shores of Nigeria for the first time ever, have now enjoyed the privileged tutorship of Imperial College, the University of Cambridge, and Coventry University.

They have also made study tours to the National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory, National Arts Gallery, Science Museum, the Museum of Natural History, and other places of interest.

This for them is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one that will catalyse a change of worldview and stimulate better educational performance in them and their peers, just as the Governor intends.

The Commissioner for Information, Comrade Ini Ememobong, explains that the education exchange programme is the Governor’s unique way of promoting academic excellence by rewarding intelligent students extraordinarily.

According to him, “the philosophical underpinning of the programme is that education can take you from a rural school to London. Reading culture is declining, and the Governor is using this as an example to tell the people that with education you can attain any height in life. The programme is part of the Governor’s strategy to incentivise students to study.”

Gov. Umo Eno’s educational transformational plan for those lucky students goes beyond foreign trips. When they return, they will be trained on different life skills to further expand their capacity as the state’s bilateral relations with the London Borough of Southwark will cover other areas such as agriculture, and so on.

This is a great opportunity for those young ones who did not have to know or lobby anyone in order to qualify for this. All they had to do was study hard, and that is just what they did.

This will no doubt impact the educational ecosystem of the state in many positive ways. Through the educational exchange programme, Gov. Umo Eno has ignited a spark in these young ones, one that will grow into huge flames of success in no distant time.

Already, anticipated positive outcomes of this laudable initiative are being felt as the students have made an avowed commitment to take their studies more seriously upon their return so as to qualify them for greater heights of academic exploits.

This exactly is what the Umo Eno administration typifies: an Akwa Ibom where the son or daughter of a nobody can become someone without having to lobby for it; an Akwa Ibom where hard work, discipline, and determination tower above everything else; an egalitarian state where great opportunities are made available for the people devoid of favouritism.

As the exchange programme participants wrap up their study tour overseas, let us as a people applaud Gov. Umo Eno for enthroning the culture of academic excellence in our young minds, and continue supporting his leadership trajectory, for the benefit of all.