Governor Henry Seriake Dickson has offered automatic employment to 307 beneficiaries of the Bayelsa State Scholarship Scheme, according to a statement by his special adviser on media relations, Victor Soriwei.
The statement on Sunday said the beneficiaries comprise 107 doctorate degree holders and 200 master degree holders who concluded their programmes in various universities across the world.
Dickson also gave automatic employment to all medical doctors, pharmacists and public health specialists and other beneficiaries of the scheme who studied professional courses considered critical to ongoing development efforts in the state.
The 107 doctorate degree holders would be deployed to the three state-owned universities, the Niger Delta University, University of Africa and the Bayelsa Medical University, as lecturers.
The governor also directed that those who studied medicine and other professional courses at masters degree level would deployed to various medical facilities across the state as well as the state civil service.
He noted that the scholarship scheme, which was designed to send an army of Bayelsa scholars to universities across the globe, came at a heavy sacrifice and cost to the government.
He however pointed out that while the cost of sending the scholars abroad was huge, investment in education and human capacity development was the only way to wrest the state from the clutches of underdevelopment, oppression and poverty.
The governor disclosed that the plan to send large number of Bayelsa students to universities across the globe was stalled by the 2016 economic recession, which also affected several programmes of his administration.
He stated: “We should not forget to invest in education. The reason we are where we are is because of lack of education, the reason people take away our resources with impunity is lack of education.
“The mindless degradation of our own environment, the acts of impunity against our people and their environment, what I call environmental terrorism, is because of the backwardness in education.
“Those who woke up early and embraced education have taken over everywhere. This is our own way of equipping our people to be able to tackle the existential challenges facing us today.
“The cost is quite huge but no matter the cost, this is the right way to go. I don’t need to know any one of you to be given the opportunity and encouraged to study abroad.
“While it is good to build roads, hospitals and edifices for the state, investment in human capacity is the most important. All the others can collapse but the investment in human capacity development will endure.
“I had the intention to send out an army of scholars across the globe but the recession stalled that plan. Several programmes including the scheme suffered stagnation as a result of the recession, the worst in the history of our country.
“All those who have completed their PhDs and about to complete, totalling 107; the over 200 who have MSC in some core professional courses like Civil Engineering, Statistics, Pharmacy, Public Health and others and all medical doctors are hereby given automatic employment.”
He assured the beneficiaries still in various universities within and outside the country that the state government would ensure the release of funds next week to gradually address the issues of their outstanding bills.
He directed the Bayelsa State Scholarship Board to commence the process of immediately settling the outstanding bills of those who have concluded their studies and needed their certificates for promotion or upgrading as well those who want to further their studies.
