Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has approved a new salary structure for health workers across the state’s public health institutions, marking a significant step in his administration’s broader push to overhaul a long-neglected healthcare system.

The new pay regime, known as the Abia State Health Workers Salary Scale (ASHWOSS), will come into effect on May 1, 2025, and is benchmarked against the federal salary structure for healthcare professionals. It applies to doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, optometrists, radiographers, and medical laboratory scientists working in the state’s hospitals and primary health centers.

Announcing the development in a statement on Wednesday in Umuahia, the Abia State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ogbonnaya Uche, said that the move was aimed at addressing decades of poor remuneration, wage disparities, and the resulting exodus of skilled personnel from the state health system.

“With effect from May 1, 2025, health workers in Abia will begin to receive the same remuneration as their counterparts in federal health institutions,” Uche said. “This brings to an end years of agitation and discontent among medical professionals who have had to work under difficult conditions with inadequate compensation.”

A Broader Plan to Revive Public Health

The introduction of ASHWOSS is part of Governor Otti’s larger campaign to rebuild the state’s crumbling healthcare infrastructure, improve healthcare delivery, and restore public confidence in government-run hospitals.

Since taking office in 2023, Otti has made health sector reform one of his administration’s focal points. One of his earliest actions was to embark on the rehabilitation and equipping of general hospitals and primary health centers across the state — many of which had fallen into disrepair under previous administrations. Several facilities, including the Amachara Specialist Hospital and Aba General Hospital, have undergone significant refurbishment, with others in Umuahia, Arochukwu, and Isuikwuato in various stages of renovation.

In addition to rebuilding physical infrastructure, the Otti administration has prioritized staff welfare and professional development. Health workers in Abia have historically grappled with prolonged salary arrears, poor working conditions, and lack of essential medical tools — factors that contributed to chronic understaffing and patient neglect in government health institutions.

771 Health Workers to Be Recruited Across Disciplines

As part of efforts to fill longstanding vacancies and expand service capacity, the government has approved the recruitment of 771 new health workers into the public health system. According to Uche, the recruitment covers a wide range of professionals including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, radiographers, and laboratory scientists.

He said the number was based on a recent needs assessment conducted across various hospitals and health agencies.

“Governor Otti has also approved the release of funds for the salaries of the new recruits. The goal is to ensure that no facility is left critically short of personnel,” the commissioner said.

To complement the general workforce expansion, the government is also targeting the recruitment of specialists and consultants in high-demand medical fields where services are either nonexistent or extremely limited. These include laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgery, cardiac and neurosurgery, anesthesiology, transplant and robotic surgery, neonatology, oncology, and interventional radiology.

Other specialties to be considered on a case-by-case basis include nephrology, cardiology, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, orthopedics, and neurology.

To attract and retain these specialists, Uche said the governor has directed the Ministry of Health to negotiate a special emolument package separate from the general salary scale. The aim is to reverse the brain drain that has left many state facilities incapable of handling complex or emergency medical cases.

The approval of ASHWOSS follows the governor’s decision to allocate 15% of the state’s 2025 budget to health, matching the Abuja Declaration target that successive governments have failed to meet. The funds, according to officials, are being channeled into infrastructure, staffing, procurement of equipment, and capacity building.

“This administration is not paying lip service to health reform. We’re tackling the problems from the root — infrastructure, manpower, equipment, and fair wages,” Uche said.

A Legacy of Neglect and a Chance for Renewal

Under previous administrations, especially the immediate past government led by Okezie Ikpeazu, the health sector in Abia State became synonymous with decay. Health workers often went for months without pay, with some owed as much as 12 to 14 months in salary arrears. Strikes became common, while patients had little choice but to turn to private hospitals or travel out of the state for treatment.

Otti has been vocal about his commitment to reverse that trajectory. His administration began clearing inherited salary and pension arrears shortly after taking office, and with ASHWOSS now in place, there are growing signs that his promise to prioritize healthcare may be more than just political rhetoric.

He is wrong and flatly lost on the real purpose of education. Going to school with the sole goal of getting a job, and graduating with the same thinking, means the person missed many classes in school. The biggest mistake in the career system is the way some people position the value of education. Yes, some people now see going to university to be synonymous with getting a job!

But if you understand the value of education, education does not mean or equate to jobs. Education is designed to be a system to liberate the minds, and not a system to just get jobs. Jobs are just one of the benefits or features associated with education, because education provides knowledge.

Yes, the real value of education is the liberation of the mind. If we have knowledge, we cannot be ruled by jobs. We cannot fear jobs because we will have the capacity to own our future. If you have the right education, you have victory over jobs. An Igbo proverb says that “ndu ka ihe eji azu ya” [life is bigger than whatever is required to sustain it], and that means we need to seek knowledge over the fixation of jobs. I challenge us to develop skills and capabilities, and jobs, in different forms, will emerge.

And that means even when the jobs come, we must not allow the jobs to boss over us. Largely, there is no job anyone will hold that someone has not “held” or ‘resigned” from. And that means when your job title or your position at work is the first way people relate with you, you have a problem.

Why? The day that title goes, you become miserable because the basis of your existence has gone. But if you stand as a person, you will see that nothing will “expire” in your career because job titles come and go, but you should not. Let us have victory over jobs, and stop the debate that university education is useless with some even burning their certificates in Nigeria (I doubt they do!).

Remember: making an “A” or “C” is not the education; the process of making an “A”, “C” or whatever is the education. If you do not submit to that process, irrespective of whatever grade they assign to you, you will still miss what it means to be educated!

The purpose of education is to provide you with logic tools to think to sanitize your mind. Simply, to reason. We lived in the village and used to fall sick. Then we went to schools and teachers taught why washing hands before eating is desirable. Suddenly, we could go weeks and months without falling sick. What happened? Washing hands takes germs out…

You used to kill twins but someone explains that it is a biological process and over time instead of killing them, you celebrate the arrival of twins. You knew nothing of electronics; someone explains how electrons play to give electricity, you use that to create something. If you are educated, you are provided with LOGIC tools to think.

Note that we have many degree holders who are not educated.

MTN Nigeria crossed the N1 trillion revenue mark in the first quarter of 2025, recovering strongly from a loss position last year, buoyed largely by the phased implementation of a 50% tariff hike approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and early signs of exchange rate stability.

The telecom giant’s revenue for Q1 2025 rose by 40.5% compared to the same period in 2024, according to its unaudited financial results released Monday. The company also posted a profit after tax of N133.7 billion, reversing the N392.7 billion loss recorded in Q1 of the previous year.

The improved earnings come just months after the NCC gave operators the nod to adjust tariffs upwards by 50%, a move that sparked debate across industry circles but was justified by regulators as necessary for the telecom industry sustainability. For MTN, the adjustment began mid-February and fully rolled out across its data and voice bundles by March — meaning the full impact is expected to manifest in Q2.

Despite only a few weeks of implementing the new pricing regime, the company reported early resilience in customer demand.

“We commenced phased implementation of the new tariff structure in mid-February… While the full impact on usage and revenue is expected from Q2, early indicators suggest continued resilience in customer demand, aided by our targeted CVM initiatives,” said CEO Karl Toriola.

Surge in Capital Expenditure

MTN’s network investments also spiked during the quarter as it moved to comply with regulatory conditions tied to the tariff increase. The company spent N202.4 billion on capital expenditure (CAPEX), representing a staggering 159% jump from the N78.1 billion it deployed in the same quarter last year.

The NCC had demanded that telcos ramp up infrastructure investments within three months of the approval. Tobe Okigbo, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, noted earlier that “the better the quality [of service], the more money you spend,” adding that poor network quality results in losses for operators as well.

The increased spending appears to have been matched by meaningful growth in network usage. MTN added 3.2 million new subscribers, growing its total base to 84.1 million. Active data users increased by 2.6 million, lifting its data customer base to 50.3 million — helping drive a 46.4% year-on-year surge in data traffic.

“This growth was supported by our disciplined approach to gross connections and churn management, as well as continuous innovation in customer value propositions,” Toriola said.

Stabilizing Macroeconomic Environment

MTN’s recovery is unfolding against a backdrop of relatively steady macroeconomic indicators in Q1 2025. The company acknowledged that although uncertainty lingers, the naira’s performance, stabilizing at N1,537 to the U.S. dollar by the end of March, along with a recalibrated Consumer Price Index (CPI) and moderated inflation at 24.2%, provided tailwinds.

The easing of foreign exchange pressure, combined with MTN’s renegotiated lease terms with IHS Towers, helped curb operational costs. The new lease deal reportedly reduced the company’s forex exposure and capped price escalations.

“As a result, EBITDA increased by 65.9%, and the EBITDA margin expanded by 7.2 percentage points to 46.6%, which aligns with our guidance,” Toriola noted. He added that the exchange rate stability between December 2024 and Q1 2025 helped reduce forex-related losses, which had contributed significantly to the company’s losses last year.

Regulator’s Mandate

The NCC’s directive on tariff review, issued on January 20, was framed around the rising cost burden on operators. It referenced Section 108 of the Nigerian Communications Act of 2003, which allows it to intervene in pricing under extraordinary circumstances.

The Commission also made it clear that the hike came with responsibilities. Operators were given a three-month window to show tangible improvements in service quality, with expectations that higher tariffs would translate into better user experiences.

Industry players had long complained about squeezed margins due to inflation, forex volatility, and increasing energy costs, prompting fears that without price adjustments, infrastructure investment and service quality could deteriorate further.

MTN’s response so far has aligned with the NCC’s expectations — with CAPEX expansion, network capacity upgrades, and steady subscriber growth as key indicators.

Market Response

The company’s strong Q1 showing has sparked a rebound in investor confidence. MTN’s share price, which suffered a 24.24% year-to-date loss in 2024, has staged a comeback in 2025. As of April 29, 2025, the shares were trading at N240, up 20% since the beginning of the year.

The rally reflects both the earnings rebound and broader market optimism around the impact of the tariff hike and improving forex conditions. For investors and analysts who questioned the company’s trajectory amid macroeconomic shocks and regulatory uncertainties last year, Q1 2025 has provided reasons for renewed confidence.

However, while MTN Nigeria’s turnaround in Q1 is significant, much of the heavy lifting lies ahead. Analysts expect the full revenue impact of the new tariffs to play out in Q2 and beyond. Execution of the NCC’s service quality targets will also remain under scrutiny as subscribers begin to expect value for the higher prices they now pay.