By Amos Okioma.
Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has called on the Federal Government to urgently address issues of restructuring, environmental degradation and underdevelopment of the Niger Delta to ensure sustainable peace and stability.
Dickson, who was represented by his Deputy, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (rtd), made the call at the 50th anniversary and wreath laying ceremony of Major Isaac Adaka Boro in Yenagoa on Wednesday.The governor, through his spokesman, Mr. Francis Ottah Agbo, noted that, the issues, which necessitated Boro’s 12 days revolution in the country, were still looming large in the Niger Delta region and agitating the minds of the people 50 years after the departure of their hero.
Governor Dickson, who described Bayelsa and the Niger Delta as the goose that lays the golden egg that sustains the country’s economy, wondered why the Federal Government and multinational oil companies have continued to subject the people to hardship.
The governor also urged leaders and the people of the Niger Delta to emulate the life style of Boro, which represents selflessness, justice and equity.
On the deplorable state of the ecosystem, arising from the activities of oil companies and pipeline vandals, he urged youths to shun practices that would further degrade the environment.
In their separate remarks, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Konbowei Benson, and the Chief Whip, Tonye Isenah, eulogised the qualities of the late freedom fighter, noting that his agitations had brought governance closer to the Ijaw people.
Chairman of the state Traditional Rulers Council, represented by the Ibedaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom, King Bubaraye Dakolo, described the 50 years anniversary as a time for self-appraisal and charged Ijaw people to strive harder to carve an enviable identity for themselves.
In their goodwill messages, the Secretary General of the Ijaw Youth
Council, Comrade Alfred Kemepado, and daughter of the late hero, Ms Esther Boro, urged the youths to uphold the ideals of Boro and eschew activities that would de-market the region and called on them to shun cultism, pipeline vandalism and militancy.
Also, the Commissioner for Culture and Ijaw National Affairs, Austin Dressman, stressed the need to keep up the struggle in achieving a restructured Nigeria, justice and economic inclusion.
Highpoint of the event was the laying of wreaths at the tomb of Major Isaac Adaka Boro at the Ijaw Heroes Memorial Park.