January 15, (THEWILL) – The Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has said his administration decided to maintain and run with educational structures and policies from his predecessor in office, such as compulsory and free primary and secondary education, to secure a better future for the state.
He said both administrations placed a high premium on education due to its capacity to catalyse development in society.
Governor Diri stated this over the weekend, at Toru-Orua, during the public presentation of grants to over 600 students in tertiary institutions, who were shortlisted for the 2023 Educational Support Grant Scheme of the Henry Seriake Dickson Foundation.
Speaking as a special guest of honour at the ceremony through his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the Governor maintained that his predecessor, Senator Seriake Dickson, succeeded in laying a solid foundation for the educational development of the state.
According to him, Bayelsa had achieved great strides in education on account of the huge investments the government had made in the sector in the last 12 years, noting that the educational ranking of the state had improved significantly over the last decade.
Governor Diri, who commended the Henry Seriake Dickson Foundation for initiating the educational support grant scheme, called on the beneficiaries to use the funds judiciously for their academic pursuits, as doing otherwise would defeat the good intention of the Foundation.
Emphasising the importance of education to society, the Bayelsa Chief Executive remarked that education makes people easy to govern, but impossible to enslave and encouraged the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously.
His words: “Our administration places a high premium on education. That is why we maintained the structures and policies which we inherited from the previous administration in the education sector.
“The revolutionary educational policies initiated by our leader Senator Seriake Dickson changed the educational narrative of Bayelsa, and we had no better option than to run with them for the good of our state.
“I commend Senator Dickson for this good initiative. I congratulate all the students who have been selected as beneficiaries of the scheme.
“I want to encourage you to divorce everything and marry your education, and develop good character and learning to become successful. Education makes people easy to govern, and impossible to enslave.”
In his remarks, Senator Seriake Dickson said the motivation behind the education support grants to students in higher educational institutions was to promote scholarship, encourage excellence, and lessen the financial burden on parents and guardians.
Senator Dickson, who is the founder of the Henry Seriake Dickson Foundation, pointed out that the education support programme was initially for only students from Sagbama and Ekeremor LGAs, which make up the Bayelsa West Senatorial District.
He, however, informed that it had now been extended to the other six local government areas in the state, with a few Ijaw students from other states like Rivers, Delta, Edo and Ondo.
According to him, no fewer than 600 beneficiaries, comprising undergraduates, masters and PhD students, including those in the various campuses of the Nigerian Law School, were shortlisted for the grants for 2023.
The Bayelsa former Governor highlighted that in 2022, the Foundation gave educational grants to 300 beneficiaries, stressing that the number had to be doubled due to the interest shown in various quarters from within and outside the state.
He said, “Last year, I mean 2022, the programme was limited to only Bayelsa West, but this year it has been expanded and extended to include the other six LGAs of Bayelsa State, as well as some Ijaw beneficiaries from other states. Preference was given to students with first-class and second-class standings in the selection process.
“We have also extended the grants to all Bayelsa State students at the Law School, the compilation of which was done by the law students themselves.
We also have categories for masters and PhD students.”
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Henry Seriake Dickson Foundation, Professor Barclays Ayakoroma, thanked the initiator for the scheme as a way of sustaining his positive educational footprints in the state.
In their separate remarks, the Pere of Tarakiri Kingdom, King Seiyefa Koroye, and the Chairman of the occasion, Chief Fidelis Agbiki, applauded Senator Dickson, noting that his love for education was unparalleled hence his continued investment in education.
The breakdown of the beneficiaries’ list shows that 300 undergraduates from Sagbama and Ekeremor LGAs, 328 students with first-class and second-class upper division standing, 79 Master’s degrees, and 45 PhD students, as well as 80 law school students, were captured in the scheme this year.
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