The Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe has said that government at all levels should invest more in the education of its citizens, particularly calling on the Rivers State Government to give its youths education that is second to none as an oil-bearing area.
Abe stated this during the 5th edition of his Annual Law School Students Support Scheme held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, in which a fresh set of 50 Law Students benefited from the scheme.
He said he initiated the scheme in memory of his experiences when he was going to law school in 1986 and his father had no money to give to assist him.
He said, “When I went to law school in 1987, my father at that time was alive, but then he was a member of the NPN and after the coup that took NPN out, my father was arrested and detained, his accounts were frozen and all his properties were seized.
“He became very broke and had no money, but he was determined that I should be a lawyer,” it was my elder sister that gave me a postdated Cheque for twenty thousand naira, “Senator Abe stated, adding that the token he was giving in support of prospective lawyers was to also encourage others who can do whatever little they can to know that no effort can be too much or too little as far as education is concerned”.
He explained that today things were not any easier pointing out that challenges abound everywhere, but what defines the child is the quality of opportunity that is available to the child, even as he urged the beneficiaries to work hard and be determined despite whatever condition they find themselves at any given time.
“If you are determined and you are hardworking, you can actually bring out the best in yourself. And the best of everybody is in the stars,” he urged them to avoid sharp practices or easy way to success because such ways actually restrict their abilities.
The frontline Rivers State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 general elections thanked the Law Faculty of the Rivers State University for the support he continues to get from them yearly.
He further said, “We may continue to applaud ourselves over things that really do not make a difference to the child at the end of the day, but it is important that we remind ourselves as a society that as an oil producing State (Rivers), the least we owe to our children is quality education that should not be rivaled anywhere else. That is one thing the state can pay for and everybody will benefit from. So we have to look at that.
“I tell people every day that the biggest challenge Nigeria is facing is in the quality of our citizens. The quality of the citizens you get in any society is directly commensurate to the amount of investment that the society puts into making a citizen.
“What is the investment that Nigeria is making into the life of the average young persons between the time of their birth and the time when we now declare them full adult citizens?” Abe queried.
He stressed the need for those in government and privileged positions in society to look behind them as they continue to grow and upgrade and lend a helping hand to the ordinary people in society to enable them to upgrade too for the betterment of society.
In his remark, Chairman of the occasion and Dean, Faculty of Law, Rivers State University, Professor Ovunda Okene, represented by Dr. Arugu Williams commended Senator Abe for the scheme, saying he is changing lives.
Professor Okene said Abe was outstanding in legal practice before venturing into politics, noting that the “greatest thing you can do for any individual is to give them education. That is what Senator Abe is doing and urged him to continue the good works”.
In their goodwill messages, Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt Branch, Sylvester Adaka and his counterpart in Bori Branch, Golden Awi recalled that before Abe delved into politics he had a meritorious practice in law and urged him to keep the gesture alive.
They expressed happiness that he has always invested in young people, describing the senator as a mentor to many people, while urging the benefitting students to make good use of the opportunity as people like Abe were not much in society, adding that the first class graduate that benefitted from the scheme would spur him to continue the good work.
