By Kingsley Ohens
Community Development Advocate & Social Commentator
BENIN CITY, EDO STATE — As Edo State celebrates 35 years of its creation on August 27, 2026, the anniversary offers an opportunity to reflect not only on the journey so far, but also on the foundation being laid for the state’s future.
At the centre of that future is education.
Since assuming office in November 2024, Governor Monday Okpebholo has placed education firmly within his administration’s development agenda, pursuing interventions that span school infrastructure, teacher recruitment and training, digital transformation, technical education, tertiary institutions, student welfare and youth empowerment.
The emerging picture is one of a government seeking to rebuild education not as an isolated sector, but as a critical foundation for Edo’s human capital and economic development.
Rebuilding the learning environment
One of the most visible aspects of the administration’s intervention has been the rehabilitation and reconstruction of schools across the state.
More than 68 schools have been reported renovated or reconstructed within the administration’s first year, while 25 schools previously affected by land grabbing have also been recovered.
Through the EduRescue initiative, schools including Evbareke Secondary School, Irrua Girls Secondary School, Army Day Secondary School, New Era College and Uyiosa Primary School have benefited from rehabilitation efforts.
These interventions are significant because the quality of a learning environment directly influences the experience and confidence of students and teachers. Safe classrooms, improved facilities and better school environments represent an important first step towards restoring confidence in public education.
Importantly, the administration’s approach has gone beyond physical infrastructure.
Investing in teachers
Teachers remain the backbone of every education system, and this is an area where the Okpebholo administration has taken notable steps.
In October 2025, the Edo Government announced the absorption of about 4,000 EdoSTAR volunteer teachers into permanent employment, alongside the recruitment of 500 additional teachers to strengthen staffing in basic and post-basic schools.
Beyond employment, the administration has also emphasised professional development, with more than 6,000 teachers reported to have received training in digital and technical skills, including robotics and artificial intelligence.
This is particularly relevant in a rapidly changing world where the skills required by tomorrow’s workforce will be significantly different from those of previous generations.
Preparing Edo’s teachers for the digital economy therefore represents an investment not merely in today’s classrooms, but in the competitiveness of the next generation.
Taking education into the digital age
Another important development has been the introduction of EdoCert 2.0, a digital platform designed to facilitate the generation and verification of academic certificates and report cards.
The initiative, launched in February 2025, represents a move towards a more efficient and secure education-record system, with digital verification and QR-enabled credentials helping to improve the authentication of academic documents.
For graduates, employers and institutions, a more efficient verification system can reduce administrative delays while strengthening confidence in educational credentials.
It is another indication that the administration’s education reforms are extending beyond physical projects into the modernisation of government processes.
Ambrose Alli University: restoring confidence in tertiary education
The intervention at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, remains one of the administration’s most significant higher-education initiatives.
Government has increased the university’s monthly subsidy from N41 million to N500 million, representing a substantial commitment to the institution’s sustainability.
The intervention has also included the restoration of disengaged staff, recruitment of academic and non-academic personnel, the inauguration of a Governing Council and progress on long-standing academic matters.
The induction of 128 College of Medicine graduates following a prolonged delay further demonstrated the administration’s effort to address institutional bottlenecks affecting students.
On infrastructure, construction has been reported on two 1,500-capacity lecture theatres and a 600-bed hostel.
Together, these interventions point to an effort to stabilise the university while improving its physical and academic environment.
Clearing the path for graduates
Some of the administration’s most consequential education interventions have occurred away from the spotlight.
Efforts to resolve an eight-year JAMB regularisation backlog affecting more than 1,000 AAU students and graduates are a case in point.
For affected students, resolving such administrative barriers can mean the difference between possessing a university qualification and being able to effectively use that qualification for employment or further education.
It is an important reminder that meaningful governance is sometimes about removing obstacles that have prevented citizens from benefiting fully from existing institutions.
Technical education for a changing economy
Governor Okpebholo’s emphasis on technical and vocational education also represents an important shift in the state’s human-capital strategy.
Edo State Polytechnic, Usen, has secured accreditation and approval for programmes including HND Business Administration and Management, HND Estate Management and Valuation, and ND Mineral and Petroleum Resources Engineering following the relevant quality-assurance process.
The administration has also embarked on the rehabilitation of technical colleges in Igarra, Irrua and Benin, alongside plans for a new national college in Ovia.
This approach recognises that Edo’s economic future will require more than university graduates.
Engineers, technicians, electricians, builders, welders, machine operators, agricultural technologists, software developers and other skilled professionals are equally essential to a productive economy.
The reported move towards vocational certification for junior secondary school students could therefore help reposition technical education as a respected pathway to employment, entrepreneurship and economic independence.
Preparing Edo’s youth for the global economy
The administration’s digital-skills agenda has also expanded.
In January 2026, the government commenced a six-month Advanced Job Ready Tech Skills programme designed to train about 800 youths in collaboration with Google and DeepTech Ready.
The programme reflects a growing understanding that Edo’s young people can participate in an increasingly borderless digital economy.
A young person in Ekpoma, Auchi, Irrua or Benin City can now acquire skills capable of connecting them with opportunities far beyond the state’s geographical boundaries.
That is the transformative potential of digital education: it can turn human capital into an exportable asset without necessarily requiring young people to leave home.
Putting support behind the student
The administration’s education strategy has also recognised the financial pressures facing students and families.
Its approval of a N1 billion annual bursary programme for Edo students in tertiary institutions across Nigeria represents a significant intervention in student welfare.
For families facing the rising cost of tuition, accommodation, transportation, books and other educational expenses, such support can make a meaningful difference in keeping students in school.
The administration’s wider economic empowerment initiatives also complement this objective. Its interest-free loan programme for traders, farmers and small business owners is aimed at strengthening household economic capacity, which in turn can support children’s continued education.
Beyond the statistics
The true significance of these interventions is ultimately found in their human impact.
Behind the thousands of teachers employed and trained are families whose livelihoods have been strengthened.
Behind the bursary programme are students receiving additional support to pursue their education.
Behind renovated classrooms are children learning in safer and more conducive environments.
Behind EdoCert 2.0 are graduates gaining access to more efficient credential verification.
And behind the expansion of technical and digital education are young people acquiring skills that can position them for the opportunities of the modern economy.
This is the broader meaning of the Okpebholo administration’s education agenda.
It is not simply about building classrooms. It is about building capacity.
A foundation for Edo’s next generation
There is still much work ahead, as education remains a long-term undertaking that requires sustained funding, effective supervision, maintenance and continuous improvement.
The success of the reforms will ultimately be reflected in learning outcomes, teacher quality, graduate employability, technical skills, digital competence and the ability of educational institutions to maintain the gains already recorded.
But the direction is increasingly clear.
From school rehabilitation to teacher employment, from digital certification to tertiary-sector intervention, from technical education to youth technology training and student bursaries, Governor Monday Okpebholo’s administration has demonstrated a broad-based commitment to education as a central component of Edo’s development.
As Edo marks 35 years, this investment in human capital deserves to be seen as an investment in the state’s next 35 years.
The roads, bridges and buildings of today are important. But the most enduring infrastructure of any society is its people.
The child sitting in an Edo classroom today is the engineer, teacher, doctor, entrepreneur, scientist, farmer, artisan, professional or leader who will shape the state’s future tomorrow.
At 35, Edo’s greatest asset remains its people.
And by placing education and human-capital development at the heart of its agenda, the Okpebholo administration is laying an important foundation for a stronger, more skilled and more competitive Edo State.
Edo @35 is not only a celebration of the past. It is a statement of confidence in the generation that will build the future.
Kingsley Ohens
Community Development Advocate & Social Commentator
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