Diri unveils new agenda, prioritises agriculture, electricity, education
By Jeffrey Agbo
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has said that his second term agenda will be hinged on a comprehensive framework built on seven pillars representing critical aspects of his administration’s developmental strategy.
Diri stated this on Tuesday while declaring open a three-day State Executive Council Retreat themed “Consolidating the Dividends of Shared Prosperity,” in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Delivering the keynote address, the governor stressed that the retreat was essential for key government officials to foster collaboration, drive innovation and ensure that policies and programmes align with common goals as well as consolidate on his first term efforts.
The state’s helmsman said his administration has developed the acronym, A.S.S.U.R.E.D, which was hinged on seven pillars that would serve as beacon to ensure economic growth, social development, infrastructure advancement, environmental sustainability, cultural preservation and good governance.
He explained that the A.S.S.U.R.E.D Agenda entails agricultural revolution, sports development, security, urban renewal, robust healthcare, energy generation and diversifying education.
Diri said his administration was committed to ensuring food security thereby opening up opportunities to maximise the potential of the state’s blue economy.
He said: “Beyond the collaboration with CBN and training of our youths at CSS Farms in Nasarawa State, I recently led a team to Seoul, South Korea, under the Korean International Cooperation Agency on an all-expense paid capacity building trip sponsored by the South Korean Government. They also donated four sets of modern tractors and other agricultural equipment worth $488,400.”
In the area of sports and youth development, he said the state’s investment in sports infrastructure and programmes was targeted at nurturing talents, build character, and create opportunities for youths of the state.
On its agenda of consolidating security and peace, the governor emphasised that his administration was working tirelessly to enhance security measures to sustain its status of being one of the peaceful state in the country and leverage on this record to industrialise the state.
He also stressed that another core pillar of the government will be urban renewal and rural development as investments in infrastructure, housing, transportation and water supply were ongoing.
“We aim to create modern, liveable cities that support economic growth and improve the quality of life for our citizens,” Diri said.
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In promoting robust healthcare delivery as another area of focus, the governor said: “We are committed to investing in modern infrastructure to improve access to quality healthcare services for all our citizens, regardless of location.
“We have expanded the health insurance scheme to include citizens who are not civil servants.”
On energy generation and economic growth, he assured that the state’s economy was being repositioned for growth and sustainability, with focus on power generation, economic diversification, entrepreneurship, and empowerment programmes that create opportunities for people.
To this end, Diri restated that government has domesticated the Electricity Act in the state and currently working on its independent power generation to provide stable power supply.
According to him, another critical area is diversifying education by placing more emphasis on the development of technical and vocational education as the sector was being digitalised to meet with contemporary standards.
“We are placing more emphasis on the development of technical and vocational education; building technical colleges in all our local government areas, which are now tuition free with also free feeding for the students.
“We will continue to promptly accredit all programmes in our tertiary institutions to guarantee educational outcomes. In the last four years, we have trained over 10,000 youths in different skills,” he said.
Diri, who emphasised the importance of teamwork, urged participants to generate sound ideas to actualise the administration’s prosperity agenda, adding that their primary responsibility was to serve the people.
Speaking on the topic, “Teamwork: Key to Actualizing the Prosperity Agenda,” one of the resource persons, Kalada Apiafi, highlighted the characteristics of an effective team and the principles of delegation.
Also speaking on the lecture, “Vision Setting, Governance and Performance,” Joe Abah noted that of all the ills that kill the poor, none was as lethal as bad governance.
In his lecture, “Policy Making and Implementation, renowned public speaker, Linus Okorie, said excellent visions and strategies can be birthed but only the zeal to implement them will transform the goals behind such ideas by a leader to reality.