Bayelsa Guber: Sen Diri assures Bayelsa students of bursary payment

Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

The Bayelsa State People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the November 16 governorship election, Senator Douye Diri, has assured Bayelsa students in tertiary institutions of bursary payments should he be elected governor.

Diri, who stated this during an interactive session with students of the Ijaw National Academy (INA) in Kaiama, Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area, during a programme organised by the Alfred Kemepado-led Bayelsa Forward Movement (BFM), however, says that the payment would depend on improvements in the economy.

The governorship candidate,  while fielding questions from a select number of students, assured them of his vision to consolidate on the gains of Governor Henry Seriake Dickson’s ‘Restoration Government’, citing the administration’s support for student entrepreneurial programmes combined with their regular academic studies.

“We will explore the possibility of granting scholarships to the best students from this school and other schools. University education is expensive. Some of us while in the university enjoyed some level of scholarship. In our days it was called bursary. We will pay some levels of bursaries to our students in tertiary institutions. We know that the sitting government also did it until there was a downturn in the economy of Nigeria. Because we are people faith, we want to believe that by the time we are coming in the economy will be better off and there will be more resources available for us to do that. Our plan for education is to consolidate and if we are going to consolidate on Ijaw National Academy, the issues here is that even when you graduate, there is no job. Some of you when you get into the school, you are misinformed or misdirected and some of you via into some social vices.

“We want to raise entrepreneurs. We want to bring you up not only as lawyers and politicians, but we want to see our children who are coming up to be like Dangote. We want you to be big time businessmen and women. That is the revolution that we will add to the already existing one. Don’t expect that the government will be the only one employing all of you, it is not possible. As you graduate from here, you must have learnt one skill or the order that will make you become self employed. You will employ people instead of looking for jobs. We are going to add skills. So that our young ones will not be looking for jobs but they will become employers,” Candidate Diri said.