From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo has challenged higher institutions to collaborate effectively with members of their alumni community in accelerating the pace of manpower development and society.Senator Ewhrudjakpo stated this when a delegation from the Directorate of Alumni Relations, Rivers State University, paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Yenagoa, on Wednesday.

The deputy Governor observed that institutions of higher learning in the country seem to be paying more emphasis on learning at the expense of imparting sound character in their students. He said the Rivers State University previously known as Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) was the first state-owned university established in Nigeria to produce technical and other critical manpower.Senator Ewhrudjakpo, who is an alumnus of the university, however, expressed regret that as a pioneer state-owned institution in the country, its impact had not resonated like other universities that had made significant strides in society.He stressed the need for higher institutions and their alumni associations to work closely together in producing intelligent, resourceful, creative and industrious workforce that would impact society.According to Senator Ewhrudjakpo, “There is a disconnect between universities and alumni associations, which must be bridged for institutions of higher learning to live up to societal expectations.”The roles of alumni associations need to be escalated more than what you are doing now. There is a lot of moral decadence in our society today. There is a need to engage our students on societal ills because today there are lots of our students who are engaged in cultism, Internet fraud and other vices.”Our institutions of higher learning award degrees based on character and learning, but it is sad to note that a lot of our youths are deficient in character and so we need to make our institutions of learning more responsive to the moral values required of our youths.”Senator Ewhrudjakpo also used the opportunity to express concern over the political developments in Rivers State and appealed to the leaders and stakeholders to give peace a chance in order not to stifle the development of the state.He said the people of Bayelsa and Rivers states share a common heritage, stressing that anything that affects Rivers State would have a ripple effect on Bayelsa.Earlier in his remarks, the Director, Directorate of Alumni Relations, Rivers State University, Prof. Justin Gabriel, had congratulated Governor Douye Diri and his Deputy over the recent Appeal Court victory as well as their developmental efforts in the state.Prof. Gabriel noted that since the inception of the university in the 1980s, it had produced illustrious personalities in government, industry and in every other sphere of society, yet there had not been any serious synergy between the university and the alumni community as compared to other universities all over the world.He informed the Deputy Governor that they were in his office to formally invite him for their maiden Alumni Business Roundtable meeting scheduled to hold on the 26th of this month in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.The National President of the Rivers State University Alumni Association, Lady Perekibina Berezi; the Chairman, Board of Trustees, Prof. Gladson Nwokah; Legal Adviser, Mr Chinedu Ndah; and the Chairman of the State chapter of the Association, Dr Ileimokumo Ogregade were among members of the delegation for the visit