Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, says the current investment in education by the State is the highest in the country while the increase in the budgetary allocation to education from 5 percent to 19 percent shows the seriousness his administration attaches to the wellbeing of children.

Governor Amaechi made these disclosures yesterday during the Interdenominational Church Service to mark the 2010 Children’s Day Celebration at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Diobu, Port Harcourt.

Represented by his deputy, Engr. Tele Ikuru, at the event where the first and second lessons were read by Master Joseph Treasure of Model Secondary School, GRA and Miss Jessica Osiago of The Light Secondary School, Borokiri, all in Port Harcourt, Governor Amaechi listed the ratification of the Child Right’s Act, payment of primary school teachers’ salaries, construction of 130 new primary schools equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, training and retraining of teachers, provision of educational resources, among others, as his administration’s contribution to “better the educational lot of our children” .

He urged the clergy to do more to arrest the moral decadence in the society, saying “our society is at the brink and unless we begin to reorganize ourselves, our future will be bleak; our children must be made to know that they are the future and they have a responsibility towards the future”.

The State Chief Executive called on parents, religious leaders and other members of the society to engage in activities aimed at guiding and correcting the children, emphasizing that “if parents get it wrong, definitely the child will grow up to become a misfit in the society”.

In his sermon, Arch Bishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of the Niger Delta, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Reverend Ignatius Kattey, dwelling on the theme of the celebration “Partnering for Improved Nutrition for Mother and Child” and quoting from Proverbs 22: 6, enjoined teachers to be dedicated to their duties and shun vices that could hamper the proper upbringing of children.

The clergy lamented that “in the Niger Delta, most of the nutrients and minerals in foods critical to the good health and proper development of our children have been destroyed because of environmental and industrial effluent discharge and spillage by the oil companies”.

He called on the nation’s leaders to prepare the children to take over from the present generation, stressing that each child should be given equal opportunity, noting that “gone are the days when the girl child was discriminated against, saying “such attitude must stop”.      .

Dignitaries at the service include the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Dum Deekor, member representing Port Harcourt federal constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon. Ike Chinwo, members of the State Executive Council, first Military Governor of old Rivers State and Amanyanabo of Twon Brass, HRM King Alfred Diete-Spiff and his wife, Eze Apara Rebisi and Paramount Ruler of Port Harcourt, HRM King Sunday Woluchem and his wife, and other traditional rulers, Bishop of the Niger Delta, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Bishop Raphael Ebirien, among other dignitaries.