In the life of a man, some days will always remain epochal and indelible. Monday, June 27, was it for some young Bayelsans. That day, 25 indigenes of the oil-rich State studying in various institutions in far away Minsk, Belarus, graduated in flying colours. Out of this number, 21 graduated as medical doctors while the others majored in engineering. It was a momentous occasion for the students, as well as the hitherto educationally disadvantaged State which has, under Governor Timipre Sylva, evolved a deliberate education policy to raise human capacity development.
To celebrate the day, the Governor, who could not make the trip, sent a powerful delegation led by Mr. Whyte Durban, Director, Science Technology and Higher Education; Mrs Atonye Pekene, Secretary, Bayelsa State Scholarship Board; Waripamo Martin, Assistant Director, Foreign Awards Scholarship Board; Mike .B. Olomu, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Student Affairs, and Barrister Oyanbo Peace Owei, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on New Media and Social Networking. Many parents also flew in from different parts of the world to witness their wards’ graduation ceremony. Even more emotional and symbolic is that these young Bayelsans did not just bag their certificates, they are now also very fluent in the country’s language as they spent their first year learning it. Little wonder many of them are members of the school’s choir.
The vice chancellor of the University thanked the State for its efforts in education, which he said was novel and commendable. He also praised the Bayelsans for being exceptionally well behaved and upright throughout their stay in the school, adding that there was never a time any of them had any disciplinary issue with the school. In return, Governor Sylva spoke on phone with the students commending them for their hitch-free stay in the East European country and for making Bayelsa proud with their achievements. He promised to take them on a tour of the state’s health facilities on arrival and that he would welcome their suggestions and advice.
In appreciation of the Governor’s gesture, the President of the Bayelsa State Scholarship Students in Belarus, Enarebebe Ebiowei Robinson, presented an award to the Governor for his initiatives in the education sector saying, “These well-trained doctors are going to change the face of the health care sector in Bayelsa as well as Nigeria. They have been well-acquitted with the best training available to an aspiring medical practitioner anywhere in the world. We thank the Governor for making this happen.” Interestingly, last year, over 100 students equally graduated in the 2009/2010 academic year in Russia and Belarus; 11 were of post graduate category, while another 50 was from Kursk State Medical University. Amongst them were 40 medical doctors, out of which two graduated with first class honours and were subsequently offered automatic post graduate scholarship by Governor Sylva to continue their education to any level.
A cross section of the students also lauded the Governor for having kept faith with the educational advancement of Bayelsa even in the face of dwindling finances when he took over four years ago. One of the graduating students says, “We in Belarus are not the only beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme; last year, Governor Sylva sponsored 40 youths to India and Norway to acquire basic skills in local content policy for the oil and gas industry. He was also in Thailand recently to monitor the progress of the Bayelsans undergoing tailoring training programme. There are other students in Norway, U.S.A and South Africa. Governor Sylva realizes that without education, the State might not measure up with the rest of the world that is why he is vigorously pursuing his education agenda which would soon place the State at par with other States in Nigeria.”
Since December 2008 when Governor Sylva organized the maiden educational summit to fashion out the way forward for education in the state, the sector has not remained the same. In the intervening years, he has secured full accreditation for the Niger Delta University, ensured the smooth take-off of the South-south campus of the Nigerian Law School in Bayelsa, the South-south Federal University located at Otueke, the Federal Polytechnic Ekowe, the State College of Education, Okpoama and re-opening of the once moribund College of Health Technology, Otuogidi.
Additionally, Governor Sylva ensures prompt payment of WAEC, NECO fees while he has commenced work on 16 additional model primary and secondary schools to be constructed along the three senatorial districts. To its credit, Bayelsa was the first to commence payment of the Teachers’ Special Scale Salary when economically vibrant states had to weather the storm of intermittent teachers’ strike to compel implementation. It did not come as a surprise therefore that contrary to the poor showing of Bayelsa Students in previous examinations, remarkable improvement was recorded in the state’s performance at the WAEC, NECO, Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exams and Common Entrance. Commendably, teachers at primary and secondary schools have access to government-funded trainings. The state also has 10 designated school buses to convey primary school pupils to and from their various schools. All these put together are robust sign posts that education has leap-frogged from its abysmal level to the giant strides daily recorded in this all important sector.
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