The overnment of Abia State has announced a strategic partnership with LaLiga and the Spanish Embassy in Nigeria to host “LaLiga Week in Abia State.”
The initiative, scheduled to run from November to December, will feature a series of sporting activities and activations aimed at discovering local talents, building skills, and creating global opportunities for youths in the state.
While briefing newsmen in Umuahia on Monday after the State Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Alex Otti, the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, disclosed that the Ministry of Youths and Sports recently visited correctional centres in Aba and Umuahia as part of its welfare and rehabilitation agenda.
Kanu said: “The Abia State Ministry of Youths and Sports recently paid a visit to the correctional centres in Aba and Umuahia, in line with the Ministry’s broad welfare and rehabilitation agenda, to assess the legal, health, and welfare status of inmates.
“The outreach identified cases requiring legal aid, bail assistance, medical and family support for 20 inmates who are being prepared for pre-school, non-residential certificate examinations.”
He added that vocational skills acquisition programmes in the centres were also assessed, noting that shortage of tools, equipment and materials remains a major challenge to effective rehabilitation.
On sports development, Kanu said: “During the LaLiga Week, there will be a range of activities and activations in collaboration with LaLiga and the Spanish Embassy in Nigeria. This programme provides one of the strategic ways of empowering our youths through sports.”
On the health sector, the commissioner announced that about 3,003,250 insecticide-treated nets would be distributed across the state during the 2026 Abia Mass Insecticide-Treated Net Campaign, which will be formally launched on Friday.
He explained that the exercise is a collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Malaria Elimination Programme, and the Abia State Government through the State Ministry of Health.
Also, speaking on infrastructure, Kanu revealed that construction has commenced on two roads in Aba — the Old Express Road (3.955km) and Ururata Road (3.09km) — under the Abia State Integrated Infrastructure Development Project (ABSIID), sponsored by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
According to him, “Work has already commenced at the sites prior to the formal flag-off ceremony. These roads are part of the ABSIID-sponsored road projects in the state. A lot more of such AfDB-sponsored roads will be flagged off in due course.”
He added that there are currently 53 active project sites across the state where work is ongoing.
