Diri inaugurate six new schools in Yenagoa

Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa on Friday, inaugurated six new secondary schools in Yenagoa.

The schools are located in Biogbolo, Yenezue-Epie, Ovom, Ekeki, Akenfa and Igbogene communities, which had a combined population of 4,628 students.

Speaking at the joint inauguration of the schools at Community Secondary School, Biogbolo, Diri said his administration was bequeathing legacy projects that would speak for him at the end of his tenure.

He explained that on his assumption of office, he realised that there was a deficit in school infrastructure and he decided to approve the construction of schools across the state capital.

Diri said his decision was not misplaced as the schools had provided access to education for children who would have been deprived of education due to lack of schools.

He said building human capacity was a top priority of his government, adding that he would continue to embark on programmes that would help children at their impressionable ages in order to inculcate the right attitude and skills in them.

The governor advised the students to make good use of the facilities, saying that most of his peers were not lucky to attend school in conducive environments but had become leaders in various professions.

His words: “For us, it is an opportunity for us to serve and we believe that at the end of the day, the project we have executed will speak for us, like the school project, among others.

“The children we have trained, empowerment of the youths and women are other things that will speak for us.

“The roads and infrastructure, stadium for sports-loving people of Bayelsa, the new secretariat complex that will make the environment conducive for the workers and the gas turbines to generate electricity.

“These children are the future of Bayelsa. So, this is the time to tap into them and bring them up with the necessary skills and values that they will be useful not only for themselves but to the state and Nigeria,” he said.

Diri said that when he received the statistics from Bishop Dimeari Grammar School, Ovom, and St. Jude’s Girls Secondary School, Amarata, it confirmed to me that there was a problem in the education sector.

”From the report, I knew we have a problem because the student-teacher ratio was under threat.

“It was not anything close to the prescription of the United Nations. I then promptly approved that new schools be established across the length and breadth of the state capital.

“Today, we are inaugurating six of such schools. We have built one at Ogbogoro and another at Swali. So, we have built eight new schools in Yenagoa,” he said.

The governor gave a breakdown of the student population in the new schools, saying the school in Biogbolo would accommodate 1,000 students.

Community Secondary School, Igbogene, would accommodate 361, College of Education Demonstration Secondary School, Ekeki, 450, Government Secondary School, Ovom, 883, Community Secondary School, Akenfa 1,237 while Government Secondary School, Yenezue-Epie had 679 students.

He added that to improve education, he approved N16 billion for renovation of schools and also signed into law an increase in the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years.

“In line with the policy of the Federal Government, I signed into law an increase in the retirement age of our teachers from 60 years to 65 years.

“So the older teachers will be able to impact on the new ones that we are recruiting not only in teaching methodology but also in the relationship and values and ethics of teaching,” he said.

He advised teachers that are not interested in the job to resign and venture into other vocations or business as government would not condone truancy.

In his remarks, the Commissioner for Education, Hon. Gentle Emelah, said the administration had changed the education narrative of the state by creating an enabling environment for learning.

Emelah stated that the inauguration of the schools had expanded access to education beyond the two prominent schools in Yenagoa-Bishop Dimeari Grammar School and St. Jude’s Girls Secondary School.

Also speaking, the paramount ruler of Biogbolo community, His Royal Highness, Frank Amos, who spoke on behalf of traditional rulers of other beneficiary communities, applauded the governor for the initiative.

The traditional ruler noted that Yenezue-Epie community had a secondary school for the first time in its existence due to the gesture of Governor Diri.

Present at the event were the Speaker, Bayelsa House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abraham Ingobere, immediate past deputy governor and Chairman, Bayelsa Elders Council, Rear Adm. Gboribiogha John-Jonah, top government functionaries and traditional rulers.