By Godwin Edet
I have followed with keen interest the reactions trailing the recently released NECO results. I have read the criticisms, the insinuations and the familiar rush to social media to apportion blame.
But I have deliberately waited because, in moments like this, facts must be allowed to speak louder than sentiments.
If we genuinely care about education in Akwa Ibom, then we must interrogate the entire system and not conveniently reduce every disappointing examination outcome to a verdict against the Governor.
Since assuming office in 2023, the administration of His Excellency, Pastor Umo Eno, PhD, has demonstrated a sustained commitment to education through interventions that are difficult to dismiss.
The administration has continued the policy of free and compulsory education at the primary and secondary levels. It has paid bursaries to students of Akwa Ibom origin in public tertiary institutions, with thousands of students have benefiting.
The Governor established a ₦100 million Education Intervention Fund for students with disabilities, with provision for school fees and allowances for eligible beneficiaries.
This administration has also invested in model primary schools equipped with computer laboratories, solar power and teachers’ quarters, while expanding the teaching workforce.
In 2026, the Governor approved the recruitment of another 1,000 teachers, following an earlier recruitment of 1,000.
And then comes the issue of examination fees.
In July 2026, Governor Umo Eno approved ₦1.968 billion for examination fees covering WASSCE and related expenses, NABTEB and several State examinations. That approval was part of a combined ₦3.268 billion intervention for bursaries and examination fees, including an increase in the State bursary from ₦20,000 to ₦50,000 per beneficiary.
So, let us ask the question honestly:
After government has paid the examination fees, provided learning infrastructure, recruited teachers, supported students financially, built model schools and created an environment intended to improve access to education, is the Governor expected to enter the examination hall and write NECO for the candidates?
Of course not.
Government has responsibilities.
Teachers have responsibilities.
Parents have responsibilities.
School administrators have responsibilities.
Students have responsibilities.
What is intellectually indefensible is to pretend that an examination result exists in a vacuum and that the Governor personally determines every student’s performance.
That is not accountability. That is political convenience.
And I must ask those who appear to have discovered nothing commendable about this administration since 2023:
Has Governor Umo Eno really done nothing right?
Nothing in education?
Nothing in infrastructure?
Nothing in healthcare?
Nothing in human capital development?
Nothing in social intervention?
Nothing in supporting students?
Nothing in expanding access to opportunities?
Surely, even the most determined critic must occasionally acknowledge a verifiable intervention.
Criticism is healthy in a democracy. In fact, this government welcomes scrutiny. But criticism without context is not scrutiny; it is merely political gangsterism disguised in Criticism.
The NECO results should therefore become a moment for serious educational reflection.
Let us examine what went wrong.
Let us examine what can be improved.
But let us also acknowledge what has been done.
And stop attributing the bad results to the beautiful dance steps of the commissioner for Education because if we are going to demand more from government which we absolutely should:then we must at least have the intellectual honesty to recognise what government has already put on the table.
Governor Umo Eno cannot write NECO for Akwa Ibom’s children.
But he can provide the resources, structures and policies that give them a fair opportunity to succeed.
And by the documented interventions of his administration since 2023, that investment in educational access and human capital development is already evident.
The conversation, therefore, should not be:
“Blame the Governor.”
Godwin Edet is Personal Assistant, New Media to the Governor, Political Communicator, PR Expert and a Fine Artists and writes from Aka Offot in Uyo Local Government Area.
