Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, was on Thursday honoured for his administration’s commitment to free education and the growth of the state’s education sector.
At a high-profile event held at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, Governor Diri received the Platinum Education Ambassador Award bestowed by the Independent Newspapers.
Represented by the Commissioner for Education, Dr Gentle Emelah, and his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, the event was in commemoration of 70 years of Free Universal Primary Education (UPE) in Nigeria and as part of the country’s 65th Independence anniversary celebrations.
Three of Nigeria’s foremost political leaders and icons of free education – Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (represented by his wife, Prof. Uche Azikiwe), and Sir Ahmadu Bello – were also honoured posthumously.
Other awardees were Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, and the governors of Lagos (Babajide Sanwo-Olu), Ekiti (Biodun Oyebanji), Ogun (Dapo Abiodun), and Kano (Abba Yusuf).
Also, Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba, Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Usman Ododo (Kogi) and Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra) were honoured.
Speaking through Dr Emelah, the Education Commissioner, Governor Diri expressed gratitude to the organisers for the recognition, saying it was gratifying that the government’s effort to reposition the education sector was bearing fruit.
“Not only have we begun to see the positive outcomes of our administration’s reforms in our state’s education sector, but we have also been attracting encouraging recognition and accolades.
“The idea of celebrating education ambassadors resonates well, and I commend the organisers.
“Education remains the bedrock of societal development. As a priority, our administration places a high premium on initiatives that advance our state’s progress educationally.
“At the secondary school level, we have introduced science and technical education to turn the emphasis away from certificate education that encourages job seekers to become creators and innovators.
“The recent high performance of our students in national examinations is an affirmation that our efforts are yielding the right results. Our state’s performance ranking has equally moved to the top five bracket in recent examinations conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO).”
He assured that his administration will sustain the positive trend in the sector
