By Emma ogbuehi
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has urged Bayelsans to appreciate God for creation of the state as it has witnessed remarkable development in 25 years of its existence.
Governor Diri stated this on Friday in a statewide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 61st and Bayelsa State 25th anniversary aired on all the major stations in Yenagoa.
The governor noted that although the state had not developed to the level it desired to be, it had witnessed appreciable growth in terms of human and infrastructure development compared to when it was part of the old Rivers State.
While calling on all sons and daughters of the state to close ranks and support his administration to move the state forward, Diri stressed that there was no other state they can call theirs, urging them to avoid acts that would pull the state backward.
While giving an overview of achievements of the state within 25 years of creation, the governor said Bayelsa now has established higher institutions that are producing quality graduates, constructed and dualised several roads linking seven local government areas as well as connected to the national grid and also has a functional airport, which commercial flight operations commenced on August 19, 2021.
He appreciated a former Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha, and the founding fathers of the state for making the dream of having a homogenous Ijaw state a reality.
His said, “Although we are not yet where we desire to be, we are however not where we used to be. I therefore urge you to continue to pray for your leaders, for peace of the land and support this administration so that we can together build the Bayelsa of our dreams.
“We are monolithic and should not sabotage ourselves. We have nowhere else to call our homes.
“We salute the courage of the late General Sani Abacha, who proclaimed the creation of the only homogenous Ijaw state on this same day in the year of our Lord 1996. I also extend special appreciation to our heroes and founding fathers, whose remarkable acts of courage and heroism will be forever etched in our hearts and history.”
Describing the development of the state as steady, the governor thanked his predecessors for their developmental efforts, which his administration is building on, saying that ‘it is a demonstration of the fact that “team work makes the dream work.”
Diri expressed his administration’s resolve to transform the state to attain its status of the ‘Glory of All Lands.’