Gov Duoye Diri has ensured education is free in Bayelsa —Okubonnabo, Bayelsa SUBEB chairman

The Executive Chairman, Bayelsa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Chief Victor Okubonanabo, in this interview by SAM NWAOKO speaks on the 26th anniversary of the creation of the state and the efforts to make the state a model by Governor Duoye Diri.

 

Bayelsa State is 26, how would you describe the journey so far from your perspective?

We are grateful to God, we are growing and we will continue to grow. The government of the day led by His Excellency Sen Douye Diri is doing well. I believe that by the time he would conclude his two tenures, Bayelsa will be comparable to any of the older states with the level of development that he is carrying out. The government is building facilities like good roads of quality standards. As an educationist himself the governor is putting so much particularly in the educational sector, especially in tertiary and secondary levels. We are proud of him.  At all levels and he is making education to be comparable to that of other states both nationally and internationally. Bayelsa State had been so doing so well in terms of quality education but the government of Governor Diri has been outstanding.

 

Speaking from the government’s point of view, where do you think Bayelsa State would be in the next 10 years as regards development?

Good policies are important for the development of any government and the policies of this government and its manifesto, to the best of my knowledge, are perfect. The implementation so far is also 100 per cent. When you talk of SUBEB counterpart funding, the fund has to be provided by the government. As we speak the government has provided the 2022 counterpart fund which is about N1.2billion. the primary aim of this is to create conducive environment for learners and teachers.

 

There must be some cultural differences which, as a leader, you must have noticed as you work. Tell us a little bit of the differences in culture from other states?

Culture is basic to a particular people; it is the belief and customs of a people. Our culture is different from that of other localities. Interestingly, the governor himself is a culture-friendly man, and that is why he is vigorously promoting our culture. Some of our students could hardly speak our language, the Ijaw language. To tackle this trend and shore up our culture, the governor appointed 272 teachers to teach the Ijaw language. You will be surprised that many of our children even here in Yenagoa cannot speak our language. This is a way the Governor is promoting the culture and other areas of our culture too. He is also promoting our local festivals and he is focused on all these.

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If you have an opportunity to be in the midst of tourists from other climes, what would you tell them in order to motivate them to come to Bayelsa State and invest?

I know that the state government of the day is doing well to create that enabling environment for investors. Take security for instance, he is improving security in the state because without security, no state can function properly and that would automatically hinder development in all ramification. We have many tourist sites in the state which the state government is either developing or enhancing. Brass, Boma, etc, are tourists centres given to us by nature. We didn’t create these sites but we can develop them and that is what the government is doing. In less than 10 years, the state will be making huge money from tourism. We cannot depend only on federal allocations and the governor has constantly been talking about diversification. He wants us to explore areas where the people can work and benefit from and this in turn can add to the state’s IGR.

 

From the perspective of SUBEB, what plans do you have for culture and tourism?

You know education is all-encompassing. The tourism aspects are also part of our educational system. If our culture is well developed, students will go to see themselves what they learn from their books and this will enhance teaching. That aspect will go a long way to improve our educational standard. Like some children, from their childhood they have not seen the crocodile or other sea creatures, but by the time we make them see these things, and by the time they go to the university, those things would remain in their memory and enhance their work with nature. Developing our tourism will make learning easier. We are ensuring that in the nearest future, our tourism would be part of our learning system. Our tourist centres will be part of our learning process.

 

If you are to advice the government, what you propose as actions in the area of culture?

If you say advice, the man is already doing it. So what else would we advise him? We can only encourage him to continue and be strengthened. He is doing well and he has plans for the state, for cultural development and other areas of the Bayelsa State economy. We can only pray for him to succeed, in good health and more prosperity. From all indications he knows what he is doing and he is doing them with admirable focus. He has set a roadmap for us all and even for the younger generation. They will see it. So I will call on all and sundry to encourage him and will pray for him and support him to do more for Bayelsa State.

 

We have Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa languages taught in schools. Do you see the Ijaw language in this category and in WAEC soon, do you think this is possible?

From the efforts in the area of language and cultural development, I can say confidently that the governor is getting it right. I said earlier that to improve the cultural value of our society and for our children to speak our language fluently, he approved the employment of 272 Ijaw language teachers. Language is part of culture, you cannot understand a culture if you don’t understand the language. In those days, there was a subject called vernacular in the curriculum but later it was taken away. The former governor tried that, the restoration governor. We now have a diploma in a tertiary institution in our state. The new teachers are engaged to teach our younger generation the Ijaw language. In the nearest future, this will yield fruits. Ijaw language is now in our curriculum. In the next three to five years, it would be enrolled in WAEC exams, even in Junior WAEC. So I see the Ijaw language being at the same level with Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and others. Ijaw will soon be among those languages.  And the way we are going, it is going to be compulsory in our schools. Just like they do in the north, you cannot enroll in WAEC without taking their language. May be soon, we will make it compulsory for whoever wants a job in the state should have credit in Ijaw language.

 

What is the difference between Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

Before it was millennium development goals now it is sustainable development goals. It was an agenda set up by World Bank and partnered by the federal and state governments, to set up a standard for how they want to develop the life of the people. It is being funded by both the federal and state governments. Coming back to SUBEB and UBEB, these are State Universal Basic Education Board, the law was passed in 2004, and the basic agenda is to make education compulsory for all children. Its focus is to make sure that a child in our society is not denied education, whether from poor background or not. The compulsory aspect is that the basic, the lower basic and upper basic, zero to nine is lower basic, from 10, 11 and 12, is upper basic – that is from JSS 1 to 3. The aim is that if one is given this education, from zero to 22 or 23 and where you have junior WAEC, you are able to read and write. This is a process of eradicating illiteracy from the society. The aims and objectives of SUBEB and Universal Basic Education Board are to ensure that we carry out this policy which says that every child has the right to basic education. And it is in collaboration with parents or caregivers, it is a shared collective responsibility. We are all involved. And the law says that any parent that refuses to take his child to school is committing a crime. They must take their child to school for basic education. Our job is to ensure that every child is given basic education; it is the right of every child.

 

As the state is celebrating 26 years, what is your wish for Bayelsa, what hopes do you have? 

I wish Bayelsa, her government and people good luck. We will continue to pray to God Almighty to give our governor the wisdom and ability to continue the good plan he has for our state and its people.  We also pray that whoever comes to succeed him after 8 years will key into his agenda because his agenda is well articulated and if it continues, we will get it right. Whoever will succeed him must key into it. Our nation is 62 years, Bayelsa is 26, we know the situation of Nigeria, with this level of development on going, l wish that by the time we grow to 40 50 years, every child of Bayelsa would not lack anything good. Our children will be competing favourably with any child in from other parts of the country. The Senator Diri government that is building all the facilities now is doing so for the future generations. The facilities are there and we are making education compulsory, free for all Bayelsa children and this will continue. The government has ensured that free education continues. Any aspiration we have will only be possible with education.