With a pilot scheme at a secondary school in Owerrinta, Isialangwa South LGA, schools in Abia State would soon have renewable energy for power supply as the State government has established a biogas digester to drive a biogas demonstration project.
The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, told journalists that the project, a major step towards renewable energy adoption, is designed to demonstrate the viability of converting organic waste into renewable energy within educational institutions.
“The bio-gas initiative,” according to Kanu, “is intended to assess the affordability, scalability, and acceptance of the technology in schools, while also generating research data that could support wider implementation across the state.”
He added that the pilot project, which is currently in its early stages, is expected to begin gas production within a few weeks and, if successful, would be replicated in other schools and public institutions throughout the State.
The Commissioner also said that as part of efforts to promote science and technology education among young people, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations plans to organise a five-day STEM Week programme targeted at secondary school students, especially girls, across the state in ICT club activities, science, technology, mathematics and engineering.
Prince Kanu also disclosed that the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations is setting up a committee to implement a programme tagged ECoN, “Energised Commercialisation Now”, a Federal Government programme that promotes technology innovation and research in all the states of the country.
The Commissioner also said that as part of the initiative on equipment maintenance and personnel training in the health sector, government has established a biomedical unit to ensure that the installed medical equipment in state government hospitals are maintained and repaired when the need arises to prevent downtime in addition to the ongoing training programme for biomedical engineers and staff of the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Medshare USA and CPR USA Engineers, who are currently in the state to train local engineers.
The Commissioner declared that the State was rated high on malaria prevalence reduction from 16.5% in 2024 to 11.5% in 2025 by National Malaria Elimination Programme, during its recent advocacy visit and reassured residents that there is currently no confirmed case of Ebola in Abia state or anywhere in Nigeria and that the State’s Public Health Unit remains fully alert and is closely monitoring the situation to ensure the continued safety and wellbeing of the people.
He advised members of the public to remain vigilant by maintaining proper personal and environmental hygiene, avoiding contact with rats and rodents, and seeking immediate medical attention whenever they feel unwell in line with the public health advisory from WHO and the National Council for Disease Control (NCDC), on the Ebola outbreak in DRC, Congo and Uganda, thereby declaring it a public health emergency of international concern.
The Commissioner noted that Governor Alex Otti would mark his third anniversary with the commissioning, including 25 roads, 15 primary health centres, the Obingwa General Hospital and Phase One of the Arochukwu General Hospital.
