Akwa Ibom News Online Commentary

I am pleased to say that the contributions made by Chief (Dr) Godswill Akpabio’s administration to higher education in our state has play prominent part and is a good strategy for poverty reduction. Misperceptions about higher education’s role in truly sustainable development have persisted for too long in our state before the coming of your administration.

Akwa Ibom State has become prosperous without a strong higher education system. Yet this has not persuaded the previous governments from wondering whether poorer families can “afford” to invest in higher education. But it is lack of investment in higher education within a comprehensive approach to sound education at certain level that continues to hamper various agencies efforts to eliminate poverty. It is clear and unequivocal in the reasons why poverty cannot be overcome without the benefits of higher education while we get on with the work of building stable, high quality higher education systems in our country.

The role of the present government of Akwa Ibom state in Higher education as a tool for poverty eradication can not be under estimated. I know it was as a result of this that the Chief (Dr) Godswill Akpabio’s administration spent money in educating our people both in Local and foreign institutions of higher learning.

This government commitment to poverty eradication through education has given the government credibility. This government has consider abject poverty a severe injustice and an abuse of human rights hence addressing it extensively. Government action programme has proposes to support livelihood systems and survival skills to help poor people to combat poverty in Akwa Ibom state. Abject poverty is more than not having money; it is a form of social exclusion.

The role of education in poverty eradication, in close co-operation with other social sectors, is crucial. No society has succeeded if it has not educated its people. Not only is education important in reducing poverty, it is also a key to wealth creation.

I believe that investing in the healthy development of children as you did is investing in a brighter future for the world at large. Our state will benefit the more when children become productive, engaged citizens of tomorrow. It is believe that helping to improve the lives of underprivileged children through education will reduce poverty.

My investigations reveal that only 20% of the students that finished secondary education in the rural area of Niger Delta (Akwa Ibom State inclusive) gain admission into universities. The poor figure is as a result of inability of their parents to afford their children school fees. Within the 80% that stays at home about 50% are qualify to be admitted into universities since they possesses five credits in either their WAEC, GCE or NECO examination.

Government should further institute new frameworks to address poverty by aligning social sector development closely with macro-economic policies and strategies. One of these new efforts should be the introduction of Oil and Gas Scholarship Committee to handle and monitor scholarship provided by Oil and Gas companies operating in our state. In doing this, 30% of the scholarship should be targeted toward the less privilege children in the rural communities. How the oil and gas companies handles the scholarship now fails to address the aims of the scholarship program.

To effectively assist this class of children, scholarship provided by Oil and Gas companies should be properly managed to accommodate these children.

There should be Oil and Gas Consolidated Scholarship programme. In doing this, State government should partner more with Oil and Gas companies in using education in the development of the rural youths. Oil and Gas companies should be directed to stop issuing scholarship forms to the indigents of the state; instead they should be directed to pay the amount meant for the scholarship to the state government who will open special account for it. The state government should provide the scholarship through special (Oil and Gas) committee in the governor’s office not state scholarship board.

The committee should make sure that the scholarship is share at a ratio of 30:70. Seventy percent should be reserved for those people who are in the university while thirty percent should be reserved for those who have the require qualifications to enter university but disable by fund. The committee should visit secondary schools and rural communities to select brilliant students for the thirty percent scholarship. They should direct churches and mosques to assist in collecting result of qualify students and send to the committee.

The present method adopted by oil and gas companies does not favour rural communities. Most of the companies end up staying in their office to issue scholarship forms. They do not create time to go to their host communities to distribute the forms. Moving to the rural areas to distribute the forms will give the rural youths the opportunity of getting the form and the scholarship.

It is a known fact that most of the forms given are hijacked. In most of the companies, the scholarship are shared among their management and senior employees on the term “Exchange process”, that is, give me scholarship since your department is handling it, I will give you employment opportunity, contracts among others from my department. The question is how many rural youths do have senior or management employees that will involve in this exchange process? In some situations where someone occupy sensitive position in the oil and gas sector, the person stand the chance of obtaining scholarship from three companies to a single child of his. Again, it is a known fact that this is the era of ghost workers, there is tendency that ghost students are awarded scholarship. Does any state government or Local government care to investigate or confirm who and who get the scholarship from this area?

The committee should make sure no student enjoy more than one scholarship. They should partner with relevant scholarship boards in the state to ensure this.

A special Oil and Gas committee sep-up by the state government will go along way to addressing this problem and will make aim of the scholarship attainable and meaningful while our youths will be empowered, hence poverty is reduced.

Ekerete John Ekerete

The views of the contributors to the "commentary" section of this site are totally their views and not that of www.AkwaIbomNewsOnline.com

To have your commentary posted here, please send an email to . Include your subject, full name and location. NO attachments please. Paste your commentary in the body of your email client. We reserve the right to edit any commentary and/or not publish any commentary we receive. Thanks.

Back to Commentaries Page | Back to Top