Abia State students representing Nigeria have emerged as overall champions at the 2026 International Schools Debate Championship in Doha, Qatar.
The Abia State students secured four major trophies and 12 laurels after competing against teams from several countries to win the Best International School Debate Team award, described as the biggest prize of the tournament.
The feat was disclosed in a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Alex Otti, Ukoha Ukoha, on October 4.
The 2026 championship, coordinated by the Vocara Institute and hosted by the QatarDebate Centre at Georgetown University, Doha, featured more than 84 groups from eight countries.
The QatarDebate Centre, founded by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development in 2008, serves as Qatar’s national debating organisation.
Team Nigeria, presented by Presidential School Debate Nigeria and made up entirely of students from Abia public schools, competed against teams from Jordan, India, Qatar, the Philippines, Kenya and other countries.
The team was led by the Executive Chairman of the Abia State Universal Basic Education Board, Amb. Lydia Onuoha, alongside representatives of the Presidency and Presidential School Debate Nigeria.
Members of the team were Christian Chinweotitom Esther, Chikodi Maureen, Akamnonu Franklin, Ifeanyichukwu Prisca and Simon Divine.
The Abia State students advanced through the preliminary rounds after defeating teams from the Philippines, Jordan, India and Qatar to secure a place in the finals.
At the conclusion of the championship, Team Nigeria emerged with the Best International School Debate Team award.
The team also won the Overall Best Team – Junior Category, Best Leadership Award and Best Debater Award, in addition to 12 laurels for outstanding performance.
Reacting to the achievement, Ukoha said the victory demonstrated what he described as the strength of Abia’s new education model and the intellectual capacity of students in the state’s public schools.
He said:
“This historic victory has once again demonstrated the strength of Abia’s new education model under Gov. Alex Otti and the intellectual capacity of students in Abia public schools. The Abia Debate Team has made Abia and Nigeria proud.”
Also speaking in an interview with our correspondent on October 4, the state Commissioner for Basic Education, Elder Goodluck Ubochi, expressed satisfaction with the students’ performance.
Ubochi said the achievement was an indication that the state government’s efforts to transform the education sector were producing the expected results.
He said:
“We feel elated now. What we are doing is that we are transforming the educational sector, and this outcome now is one of the expectations, and they are indicators that what we are doing is working.”
The commissioner said the state government would host and celebrate the students upon their return, adding that they were not the only Abia students who had recorded notable achievements in competitions.
He disclosed that another student from the state had won a national essay competition organised by the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools.
Ubochi said:
“Let them come back first. When they come back, we are going to host and celebrate them. They are not the only ones. There are others that we are going to unveil by the time we celebrate all our victors together, the winners.”
He added that:
“We have a lot of them. One student won the national essay competition organised by the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) nationally. So we have a handful of them that we’re going to celebrate.”
Ubochi said the government was awaiting the return of the students before organising a ceremony to honour them and other contingents who had represented Abia in various competitions.
