The Abia State House of Assembly has assured that it will investigate the report of the high school fees charged at the Government College, Umuahia.
The Deputy Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon Augustin Okezie made this known when he addressed protesters from the host communities of the College who were at the assembly to register their displeasure over the current state of affairs at the secondary school. According to Okezie, the house was already looking into the matter through its joint committees on Education, Public Petitions and Justice prior to the visit of the protesters. He explained that the house had conducted two hearings on same issue and assured that a final hearing will be conducted soon to give all the parties adequate time and opportunity to air their views with a view to upholding public interest. He thanked the protesters for conducting themselves peacefully and promised that the house will come up with recommendations that would be in the interest of the general public.
Also speaking, the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Okoro Uchenna Kalu who also double as the Chairman of the House Committee on Education explained that the matter was already on his table. He stated that the new government in the state believes in justice, fairness and equity and that the presence of the aged mothers who were part of the protesters will spur them to do the right thing. He assured that the host communities will get all the benefits it deserves, informing that the Governor, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti is very interested in the matter.
Earlier in his speech, the spokesperson for the protesters, Mr. Nat Nwoke, a native of Ihe Ndume, one of the host communities of the Government College Umuahia stated that the they had noted with alarm and concern the revelations coming out from the Abia State House Of Assembly Committee on the petition written by one Mr. Onwudinanti Chukwudi which left them troubled. According to him, the petition gave some wrong narratives such as;
— Government College in Umuahia now being classified as a Private School by the Old Boys Association who were handed the school to restore and manage. — Abia State Government has not had any function in the running of Government College Umuahia since it was handed over to the Old Boys of Government College Umuahia. — The School fees were set without any input from the Abia State Government.
He noted that they were at the Assembly Complex to tell the Abia State House Of Assembly to please help them. He further explained that they understand and acknowledge that some outrageous things transpired prior to Governor Alex Otti’s taking over of governance, saying that they know it wouldn’t had been so if the current government was in place then. The protesters asked the assembly to help them to correct the anomalies stating that they believed in the integrity of the lawmakers and the Executive Arm of Government in Abia State.
In their ‘Save Our Soul’ message, they urged the House to grant them the following prayers;
Ensure that Government College Umuahia is once more a public school.
Ensure that their children who are intelligent can go to Government College as it was in the past by making the entrance exam open to everybody.
Slash the school fees to reflect what is going in the country and Abia State in particular. They argued that the Government college which is the pride of the East is taking the school fees to a place that is not affordable for the common person.
Ensure that the State Government is part of the management of the Government College Umuahia so that their interest will be protected
The Protesters carried Placards with the following inscriptions: “Was GCU Sold”, “Where will our Children Go to School Now”, “Abia State Govt please take back Government College Umuahia”, “Bring down the high school fees of Government College Umuahia”, and “Government College should be made affordable for both the rich and poor.” They alleged that school fees in Government College Umuahia has now gone beyond one million naira since the take over by the Old Boys Association of the college.
It could be recalled that the assembly had during its sitting on February 25th, 2025 entertained a petition from concerned former students of Government College Umuahia led by Mr. Chukwudi Onwudinanti against the Old Boys Association of the Government College Umuahia (GCUOBA) whom they claimed had gone contrary to the MoU it signed with the Government when the School was handed over to the GUCOBA to run. The petition was to assembly Joint Committees on Education and Public Petitions with a mandate to investigate and revert back to the house within 3 weeks for further legislative actions.
