From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

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 the compulsory and free primary and secondary education to secure a better future for the state.

He said both administrations placed high premium on education due to its capacity to catalyses 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 special guest of honour at the ceremony through his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, he maintained that his predecessor, Senator Seriake Dickson, succeeded in laying a solid foundation for educational development of the state.

According to him, Bayelsa had achieved great strides in education on account of the huge investments 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.

Emphasizing 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.

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.

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 said, “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 Bayclays 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 degree and 45 PhD students, as well as 80 law school students were captured in the scheme this year.