Akwa Ibom State has recorded a sharp decline in its academic performance, falling to 36th position in the 2026 National Examinations Council (NECO) rankings. This represents a significant regression from the state’s 12th-place standing recorded in 2025.
The latest results show Abia and Ebonyi states leading the national rankings, while Akwa Ibom has descended to become the second-lowest performing state in the country. The state’s sudden descent to this position follows the publication of the 2026 NECO results, which have sparked immediate debate regarding the efficacy of current educational policies.
The performance slump has prompted intense scrutiny of the implementation of the state’s decade-long education roadmap. Observers are now questioning whether the state’s spending priorities and teacher intervention programmes are delivering the intended results for students across the state.
Scrutiny of education spending and roadmap
The drop from 12th to 36th nationally has raised questions about the disconnect between budgetary allocations for education and actual academic outcomes. For several years, the Akwa Ibom state government has maintained an education roadmap aimed at improving literacy and vocational skills, yet the current NECO data suggests a breakdown in the execution of these long-term goals.
Key areas of concern include the effectiveness of teacher interventions and the quality of classroom instruction. While the administration of Governor Umo Eno has previously highlighted investments in the education sector, the 2026 results suggest that these resources may not be translating into improved student performance in national examinations.
The disparity between Akwa Ibom and neighbouring high-performing states like Abia and Ebonyi also places the state at a disadvantage in terms of regional competitiveness. As human capital becomes increasingly critical to the economic stability of the Niger Delta, a declining standard of secondary education could impact the quality of the future workforce entering the state’s oil, gas, and agricultural sectors.
Stakeholders in the education sector are calling for a thorough review of the state’s teaching methodologies and school infrastructure. There are also unresolved questions regarding whether recent teacher training initiatives have been properly funded or if they have suffered from administrative bottlenecks.
The Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Education has yet to release an official response or a plan of action to address the decline in the NECO rankings.
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