Bayelsa Receives Top NECO Performance Award

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

Bayelsa State has been awarded an excellence prize by the National Examinations Council (NECO).

During the weekly state executive council meeting at Government House, Yenagoa, on Wednesday, the award was presented to Governor Douye Diri by the Commissioner for Education, Dr. Gentle Emelah. The honour was part of NECO’s 25th anniversary celebrations and recognises Bayelsa alongside other states.

Dr. Emelah explained that the state earned the award because it has the highest percentage of candidates achieving five credits or more in NECO examinations since the body’s inception.

He added that rewarding excellence at both state and institutional levels helps foster healthy competition, accountability and continuous improvement within the education sector.

The award, he said, is not merely a recognition of past performance but a call for other states and institutions to raise their standards, aligning with NECO’s broader mission of promoting quality education and ensuring assessment outcomes contribute to national progress.

In a breakdown of national examination results, Dr. Emelah noted that Bayelsa ranked first in the country for the highest percentage of candidates who obtained five credits or more in the NECO Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (Internal) since the body’s inception. Ogun State was second and Edo State third.

Governor Douye Diri thanked NECO for the honour and described it as a catalyst for further action in the education sector.

He urged the Commissioner for Education to maintain the standard, warning that a decline would be unacceptable. “This is a wake‑up call to receive this type of award, particularly when you are competing with states that have been there for years and are believed to be educationally ahead of you,” he said. “It is a wake‑up call for you (Education Commissioner) and the ministry that now Bayelsa has come to the limelight educationally and competitively, we must wake up to the point of no return. I do not want to receive an award like this today and next year we go down. Let it be that we are improving on this.”