. . . Urges stakeholders to support education in the state

Senator Seriake Dickson, former governor of Bayelsa State and serving Senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District in the 9th Senate, has been conferred with an award, for his immense contributions to educational development in the Bayelsa state during his tenure as governor and as a serving senator.

The award which took place at his Maitama residence in Abuja was presented by members of the Rough Diamond Trust Foundation led by Mr. Appah Benjamin Idubamo.

Speaking while giving his vote of thanks, Senator Dickson thanked Mr. Apah and members of his team for the Award. He expressed his appreciation to the Foundation, not just for honoring him and finding his modest contributions worthy of recognition, but also for taking out time to do what they are doing in the area of verifying what is on ground, ascertaining needs in the sector and for working with the State government.

Senator Dickson also thanked the Bayelsa state government for giving the Foundation the responsibility to handle this task. He said education was a shared passion between the state government, the Foundation and himself.

Senator Dickson said what was important was that they have to continue to work together to deepen, extend and expand the frontiers of educational opportunities open to Bayelsans. He recalled that, just 2 days ago, he issued a statement, while talking about the elevation to Senior Advocate of Nigeria of Barrister Wodu, about the relationship between massive investment in education and expansion of educational opportunities and the need for Bayelsans to catch up in all areas of human endeavors, be it, professional, business, Administrative, military and security.

Senator Dickson said without education, you don't have the skills and requisite know-how to compete in an increasingly competitive national and global environment.

Senator Dickson thanked his team as they tried their best at the time. He therefore dedicated the recognition and award to his team. He said they permitted him to drive them as hard as he drove himself. He said he was happy that their modest efforts and contributions, even in a very tough economic environment, as six years of his tenure was a recession and yet they tried their best.

Senator Dickson used the opportunity to call for more support for the Rough Diamond Trust Foundation to enhance the work they are doing. He said his Foundation, the Henry Seriake Dickson (HSD) Foundation will support their effort, not just for what they are trying to do in Bayelsa West but that he will also support the Bayelsa State government that has given them the responsibility.

He said he hoped they will continue to update the state government and educational enthusiasts to continue to have up to date data about what the needs are, what the state of policies are and what the state of infrastructure is.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Mr. Appah said Senator Seriake Dickson was presented with the award as a mark of recognition for his immense contributions to educational development in Bayelsa State. He said this contribution ranges from the building of Model Schools in the 8 Local Goverment Areas off the state, eg, the Ijaw National Academy, the Africa University in Toro Orua, etc.

Mr. Appah noted that, from their field surveys,they got feedback from the Principals of post primary schools that, during the Dickson administration, they received a lot of support from the state government including text books, school uniforms and other amenities. Also many schools were built at the time.

He said through the survey, they saw that all these things were really on ground, hence they decided to honour Senator Dickson with this Award by giving recognition to him for his contribution to the educational development of Bayelsa State.

Rough Diamond Foundation is an indigenous Bayelsa organization who are into elevating poor indigent Bayelsans in less privileged areas through the mechanism of education. They believe that education at the grassroots has a ripple effect on the well-being, character and exposure of our youths and children.

The Foundation, according to Appah has authority from the Bayelsa State government to create a database, the first of its kind, of educational facilities in the state and also to do a Needs analysis of the sector. He said it was from that program and in the line of duty that they found out a lot of Senator Dickson’s contributions in the States' educational sector.

Appah said their next stop is Bayelsa West where they have on record, 55 schools, 30 post primary schools in Sagbama and 25 in Ekeremor. He said they plan to visit all these schools by the start of the next session. It is for this reason that they are informing Senator Dickson as the Senator representing Bayelsa West for his support.

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