Nigerians are celebrating these Abia students after their incredible victory in Qatar

• Abia State public school students representing Nigeria won the 2026 International Schools Debate Championship in Doha, Qatar.

• The team defeated competitors from six countries and took home four major trophies, including the Best International School Debate Team award.

• The students also won the Overall Best Team (Junior Category), Best Leadership Award, Best Debater Award and 12 individual laurels.

• Abia government said the victory reflects ongoing reforms in the state's education sector and promised to celebrate the students on their return.

While many Nigerians keep asking when the country will finally get good news, a group of students from Abia State has gone ahead and given everyone something to celebrate.

Students from public schools in Abia State, who represented Nigeria at the 2026 International Schools Debate Championship in Doha, Qatar, have emerged as the overall champions of the competition after defeating teams from six other countries.

The Nigerian team returned home with four major trophies and 12 laurels, including the tournament's biggest prize, the Best International School Debate Team award.

The achievement was announced in a statement released on Sunday by the Chief Press Secretary to Abia State Governor Alex Otti, Ukoha Ukoha.

The 2026 championship was coordinated by the Vocara Institute and hosted by the QatarDebate Centre at Georgetown University in Doha. More than 84 teams from eight countries participated in the international event.

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Founded in 2008 by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, the QatarDebate Centre is Qatar's national debating organisation and regularly hosts international debate competitions.

Nigeria's delegation was presented by Presidential School Debate Nigeria, with the entire team made up of students from Abia State public schools.

The students competed against teams from countries including Jordan, India, Qatar, Kenya and the Philippines, progressing through the preliminary rounds before making it to the final.

The victorious team included Christian Chinweotitom Esther, Chikodi Maureen, Akamnonu Franklin, Ifeanyichukwu Prisca and Simon Divine. They were 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.

Apart from winning the Best International School Debate Team award, Team Nigeria also picked up the Overall Best Team – Junior Category, Best Leadership Award, Best Debater Award, and 12 individual laurels for outstanding performances.

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Reacting to the victory, Ukoha 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, the Abia State Commissioner for Basic Education, Elder Goodluck Ubochi, described the victory as proof that ongoing reforms in the state's education sector are producing 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 added that the students would receive a proper welcome and celebration after returning to Nigeria.

"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.

"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.

"So we are waiting for them to come back. We will organise when we will celebrate all the contingents that have represented us well in one form of competition or the other."

The victory adds to a growing list of international academic achievements by Nigerian students, showing that despite the challenges facing the country's education sector, young Nigerians continue to compete successfully on the global stage when given the opportunity.