A legacy infrastructure project is to be built at the University of Port Harcourt by the governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri. Diri is an alumnus of the university.
The nature of the project to be undertaken by the state government is not yet ascertained, but the governor will also be delivering the school’s 35th convocation lecture. He spoke when the UNIPORT vice chancellor, Prof Owunari Georgewill visited him in Yenagoa.
Diri who was responding to the VC’s dual request that Diri do present the convocation lecture and also embark on a project for the institution said as an alumnus, he was bound to be part of the university’s activities.
He commended the UNIPORT management for maintaining excellence in the institution, stressing that education was crucial to development of society and noted that leaders who fail to invest in education would have to deal with the consequences of crime and criminality.
Diri explained that the state had shifted focus from paper qualification to science, technical and vocational education, and that the government had already completed tuition-free technical colleges in six out of the eight local government areas, with the contract for the other two awarded.
His words: “If you ignore education, then you have to build more prisons because crime will soar. For us as a government, education is a priority.
“Those of us that had the opportunity must provide space for others. In Bayelsa, we are moving from paper qualification to science and technical education so our people can have skills to be employers of labour rather than being thrown into the labour market.
“We are building science and vocational colleges in every local government area as a policy of this government. School fees, feeding and accommodation are all free. Our educational curriculum needs to meet the needs of our society.
Earlier, Georgewill had said the institution was proud to have the governor as an alumnus, adding that that Bayelsa under Diri was experiencing rapid transformation as virtually all sectors of the state’s economy had been positively affected by his administration.
The VC also said the institution was pleased to be associated with the governor and that it was a huge privilege having him as a product of the school.
