Bayelsa State: Strides In Education With Results To Show!

 Bayelsa state is quickly emerging as the one of the most educationally advanced state in Nigeria and the most educational advanced in the Niger Delta.

Last year, a number of Bayelsa State Students sponsored by the Presidential Amnesty Programme graduated top of their classes, earning first class degrees.

This year alone, more than 8 Bayelsa Students on a state funded scholarship at Lincoln University where they all graduated top of their class in a manner never seen before.

As a matter of fact, a Bayelsa student Perewari Victor Pere emerged as Class Valedictorian of the Lincoln University Class of 2017 with a GPA of 4.0/4.0 beating the rating contender, an Indian specially gifted young lady who made a GPA of 3.99/4.0!

About 7 other Bayelsa students followed with GPAs of 3.7/4.0 and above. Most of them studied computer science.

See Lincoln University’s 2017 Commence Portrait http://www.lincoln.edu/commencement/2017/portraits 

Some of these students have since returned to Nigeria where they have jointly set up a company called Afridash (www.afridash.com) to develop learning management software.

This story is an interesting one and calls for commendations on the part of the Governor of Bayelsa State who made it possible for 21 students from Bayelsa State to complete their four year study at Lincoln University and return to Nigeria.

It did not come easy.

Monthly allocations to the state had dwindled horribly and the state could hardly meet targets for salaries to civil servants. It was difficult to keep the state afloat especially with the competing needs that abound. 

Yet the Governor persevered, urged on and persuaded Lincoln University to give the state time to completely defray the scholarships bills of its 21 students who eventually came out as star students of one of America’s leading historical black college/university. 

A Different Story for Rivers State

In Rivers State, Governor Nyesom Wike had directed that all Rivers State students on oversea scholarship should immediately return to the country and complete their university education at the State owned Rivers State University.

The directive was given to the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA), the responsible agency for Overseas Scholarship.

A challenged RSSDA had no other choice but accede to the directive of the Governor. On its own, RSSDA owed staff salaries for more than 20 months and its staff had long stopped coming to work.

RSSDA, established by a former Governor Rotimi Amaechi to driven sustainable development, creativity and innovation in Rivers State had suddenly become a shadow of its old self.

Once considered the best managed government agency in Rivers State, it has quickly become a relic and study in neglect.

Strangely, and I find most perturbing is that while the Rivers State government was quick to give excuses that it could no longer afford the bills to provide for the State’s Oversea Scholarships Scheme, it was able to provide the funding for sponsorship of two failed PDP conventions, hosting of the 2016 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in Port Harcourt and a host of other programs in Port Harcourt.

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