Philips Consulting Limited (PCL), once renowned for its expertise in Human Resource Services, now appears to have veered into areas far beyond its traditional competence, the Anambra State government claims.
The state commissioner for Budget and Planning in Anambra State, Ms Chiamaka Nnake stated this in a press release.
She said: “Everyone now rushes into the business of “ranking” as the new fad in town. While it is not wrong for a firm to broaden its scope, such ventures demand rigorous training, capacity development, and methodological soundness. Without these, credibility is compromised, and reputations are put at risk.
“The 2025 PCL State Performance Index (PSPI) raises fundamental questions: What capacity does PCL have to rank Nigerian states? How was this research designed, and on what basis were such sweeping conclusions drawn? Increasingly, intellectuals and observers alike are asking whether PCL is not losing strategic focus and joined the crowd of spurious rating agencies.
“For context, in the 2024 edition, Anambra was ranked 8th. Even then, we were amused by the methodology and its results, and we never took it seriously. Now, in 2025, with a phantom change in methodology, the state suddenly plunged to 34th. Such dramatic swings within one year should have compelled any serious consultant to re-examine assumptions, refine data, and validate findings perhaps via field engagement, not publishing questionable outcomes.”
The group maintained that Anambra remained tops in education, infrastructure and healthcare.
“Anambra is a national leader in education. Since September 2023, the state has implemented truly free education from Nursery to JSS3, extending this to SS3 in 2024 in all public schools. Enrolments rose sharply—27.05% increase in primary and 10.36% increase in secondary schools—bringing the state’s out-of-school rate to just 2.9% (lowest out of 36 states and FCT, UNESCO).
“Additionally, over 8,115 teachers were recruited transparently and competitively and have continued to transform the Education Infrastructure. Without measuring learning outcomes and teacher/teaching quality, any educational ranking is incomplete. We are not aware of any other state where a government recruited 8,115 teachers within the first two years in office to end the era of schools without teachers. Over the past two years we have also been massively investing smartly in upgrading physical and technological infrastructure in the schools, and our students and teachers continue to win national and international awards. It will also be nice to know which State(s) do better in these milestones.:
“In 2024, the National Primary Healthcare Leadership Challenge Awards (assessed by UNICEF, Dangote Group, NGF, and the Gates Foundation, among others) ranked Anambra No. 1 in the Southeast and No.1 in Nigeria, awarding Anambra $1.2m in recognition. We understand that the rankings were done by an international team of about 15 consultants who visited every state and the FCT.
“This is in addition to the celebrated revolutionary policy on free antenatal and free delivery in all public hospitals which has benefited over 120,000 women in two years as well as massive investments in general hospitals, telemedicine and tertiary services. Anambra’s child mortality rate is second only to Lagos state, and patronage of public hospitals has moved from 25% in 2022 to 73% currently— a historic record, etc.
“This contrasts sharply with PCL’s ranking of Anambra at 30th in Health—a glaring inconsistency that underscores the superficiality of their approach,” the release concluded.
