Bayelsa State Governor, Honourable Seriake Dickson has again been
commended for using education as a tool to change the negative
narratives about the state.
The overall winner of the state Essay Writing Competition, Master
Africanus Noel, gave the commendation while acting as Child
Commissioner for Education in the Ministry on Monday in Yenagoa.
The 14-year old Child Education Commissioner who is an SS1 (One)
student of the Ijaw National Academy, Kaiama particularly lauded the
Governor for establishing world class free boarding secondary schools
across the state.
According to Hon Noel, the quality of school infrastructure
provided by the present administration does not only give Bayelsa
students a sense of pride but also serve as a source of encouragement
for them to work harder.
Describing education as the foundation for any meaningful
development, he identified lack of proper education and value
orientation as the major cause for cultism, prostitution and other
social vices in the country.
Introducing the Child Commissioner to government functionaries in
his office, the substantive Commissioner for Education, Hon Jonathan
Obuebite assured that the Dickson-led government would continue to
make appropriate investments in the education sector to guarantee a
more secure and prosperous future.
Hon Obuebite said he initiated the Essay Writing Competition and
Child Commissioner concept to serve as a motivational tool as well as
promote creativity, healthy competition among students.
He noted that the initiative would enable the child commissioner
to get acquainted with the art of government and leave a pleasant
impression in the mind of the beneficiary.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation,
Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson called on parents to take advantage of the
state government free and compulsory education policy by sending their
children to school.
Mr Iworiso-Markson who noted that Bayelsa now ranks among the few
states with good public schools in the country, also urged pupils and
students to reciprocate government’s effort by taking their academic
work seriously as there is no short cut to success.
Speaking earlier, the Coordinator of the 2018 Essay Writing
Competition, Mr Michael Afenfia described the winners as excellent as
they were selected by a crack team of impartial judges, using
grammatical accuracy, diction, creativity, punctuation, knowledge of
the subject matter among other criteria.
Master Africanus Noel who acted as commissioner for just a day,
also took time off to visit the office of his information and
orientation counterpart, Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson in Yenagoa