Abia State Governor Alex Otti has temporarily lifted the state’s civil service employment ban to allow 19 outstanding graduates of the TechRise Cohort 3.0 digital skills programme to be automatically recruited into the state civil service.
Otti announced the decision on Friday during the graduation ceremony of the third cohort of the TechRise programme, where 850 young Abians completed an intensive three-month training programme in information and communication technology (ICT).
The governor said the recruitment was part of his administration’s strategy to retain top talent produced by TechRise and deploy their skills to improve public service delivery.
TechRise is an elite, fully residential advanced digital skills programme for young people in Abia. The third cohort offered 850 slots and provided participants with 12–16 weeks of immersive training, including laptops, accommodation, meals and internet access. The programme is designed to create a pipeline into civil service, technology employment and global opportunities.
Otti temporarily lifts Abia’s civil service employment ban
Otti’s decision creates an exception to a broader restriction on civil service recruitment introduced after his administration annulled appointments made into the Abia State Public Service from December 2022 onward.
The disengagement directive, contained in a memo dated August 31, 2023, cited an ongoing reorganisation of the state public service and directed the disengagement of staff employed from December 2022.
At the TechRise graduation, however, Otti said the restriction would be temporarily lifted to accommodate the programme’s top performers.
“I’m hereby lifting the ban on civil service employment and directing the Head of Service to immediately and automatically recruit the 19 of you.”
The governor explained that the waiver would apply specifically to the 19 graduates, after which the broader employment restriction would resume. He directed the Head of Service to work with the Chief Information Officer and other relevant officials to identify ICT competency gaps across ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that could be filled by qualified TechRise graduates.
“A central part of our value multiplication outlook is to retain the best hands from each cohort of the program and have them contribute directly in improving social service delivery through the institutions of government”, he said.
Otti also directed the government to establish a special salary cadre for ICT professionals in the civil service, subject to applicable conditions.
850 TechRise graduates receive laptops and N100,000 each
Beyond the employment opportunity, Otti announced additional support for all 850 graduates.
The governor said the laptops used during the training had been transferred to the graduates as their personal property, giving them equipment to continue learning, build products and pursue professional opportunities after completing the programme.
He also announced a cash gift of N100,000 for each of the 850 graduates, meaning the beneficiaries will collectively receive N85 million.
Otti urged the graduates to focus on the knowledge and skills acquired through the programme, rather than treating the financial benefit as its most important outcome.
“The most encouraging development from today’s graduation ceremony is the introduction of hundreds of new job-ready professionals into our economy”, he said.
The programme has now trained 2,210 young people across its three cohorts, according to the governor. The latest cohort was also encouraged to turn its skills into businesses and innovations.
One team of graduates developed a functional drone, prompting Otti to direct the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to work with the team to explore how the technology could be developed for commercial use.
The governor also disclosed plans to establish international-standard ICT examination and certification centres in Abia, allowing residents to obtain professional certifications without travelling outside the state.
TechRise targets a growing digital skills gap
The scale-up of TechRise comes as demand for digitally skilled workers is expected to increase sharply across Africa.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that more than 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030, creating nearly 650 million training opportunities as workers also need to be reskilled.
Nigeria alone is expected to require about 28 million workers trained in digital skills by 2030, with around 45% of jobs projected to require digital competencies.
That demand puts programmes such as TechRise in a broader workforce-development context. For Abia, the programme is not only creating young people with technical skills but is also beginning to connect those skills directly to government employment and public-sector needs.
The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Sir Uzor Nwachukwu, said the state government, in partnership with the 17 local government areas, had equipped 2,210 youths through the three cohorts of the fully funded programme.
TechRise Coordinator and LearnFactory CEO Chibueze Ukaegbu also said the programme had trained 2,500 civil servants in computer skills, with plans to increase that figure to 5,000. The LearnFactory also plans to introduce coding programmes for primary and secondary school pupils across the state.
Courses offered under the programme include creative arts, cybersecurity, full-stack development, AI animation, product management, computer design and manufacturing, and enterprise-related skills.