Andrew Uchendu, Senator-elect for Rivers East Senatorial District says leaders in the state have failed to empower the youths through education.
Uchendu said this at a forum organised by the Inter-Ethnic Network on Thursday to celebrate his victory at the election tribunal.
The senator-elect said that the first administration in Rivers embarked on an aggressive educational development scholarship programme that involved training of youths overseas.
“Our state provided everything for us in our days; we went to school with scholarship and jobs were available when we graduated from school.
“Whatever I have been, I am the product of the Rivers society. I have been given every opportunity to grow, to be myself by this same state.
“From secondary school I was offered scholarship, I was given scholarship in the university and when I graduated after my service, I had about three jobs,” he said.
Uchendu recalled that after his graduation from the university, he had training with different government establishments for two months with a hotel accommodation.
“By the time I finished with the two months training in Niger Delta Basin Development Authority, a car was available for me with a driver and a furnished three bedroom apartment.
“That was the Rivers I was born into but there is nothing near to that today”.
Uchendu said that the last time such empowerments were given was under the administration of Rotimi Amaechi.
“Today I am being told that those scholarships have been cancelled and our young boys and girls are loitering the streets of London.
“These people cannot be proud of coming from Rivers. This is not the state we expect to have, I became GM of Rison Palm at the age of 32, so, what am I trying to infer?
“We need to apologise to this generation of young men and women; we have messed you up big time; we don’t need to be praised.
“We should come and rebuild this state so that the youths will have the benefit some of us had in the remaining part of their life,” he said.
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