Dr Felix Tuodolor, the Commissioner for Culture and Ijaw National Affairs in Bayelsa, said the state had awarded scholarship to 120 indigenes of the state to study Ijaw language at the Niger Delta University, Amasoma.
Tuodolor made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenogoa.
He said that beneficiaries of the award would be posted to public schools in the state to teach Ijaw language after graduation.
The commissioner said that the essence of the scholarship was to commence the implementation of the cultural restoration agenda of Ijaw people.
He also said that the newly created Ministry of Culture and Ijaw National Affairs was pursuing social and cultural cohesion aimed at preserving the Ijaw culture.
He explained that as part of measures to promote Ijaw culture, the ministry had made it mandatory for public servants and government officials to put on traditional dresses to work on Fridays.
Tuodolor said that the ministry, which was created in February 2012, was already generating as much as N1 million monthly into the state’s internally-generate revenue portfolio.
``As a very new ministry, we are already making a modest monthly revenue contribution of N1million to the coffers of the state from the commercialisation of the facilities at the Ijaw House, in Yenagoa.
``We felt that Bayelsa as the base of Ijaw people should have a befitting edifice for our people; so we fast-tracked the project and got it inaugurated and put it to use.
``It is a major development for Ijaw people within and beyond Bayelsa and today, it houses the Ministry of Culture and Ijaw National Affairs, Ijaw National Congress, Ijaw Youth Congress, Bayelsa Traditional Rulers Council, Bayelsa Musuem, among others,” he said.
He also listed the achievements of the new ministry to include the Ijaw Identity Project, which produced a coat of arms for Bayelsa, Flag and Anthem for the state.

Source: NEWS Agency of Nigeria.
POSTER: www.facebook.com/endy.edeson

1. GUYS, WHAT DO YOU THINK?
2. Can you study IJAW Language in school?