Gov Douye Diri of Bayelsa on Friday assessed developments in the South-south state since it was created 25 years ago and declared that it had “witnessed remarkable progress”.
He, therefore, urged Bayelsa people to appreciate God for the creation of the state and challenged them to contribute meaningfully to its growth.
Diri, in a statewide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 61st and Bayelsa’s 25th anniversary, particularly recalled that Bayelsa was created in 1996 by the then military leader, Gen. Sani Abacha, now late.
Noting that the state had not developed to the optimum level, he said, however, that 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 Bayelsa to close ranks and support his administration to move the state forward, Diri stressed that there was no other state they could call theirs.
“We must all avoid acts that could pull the state backward.
“We have achieved a lot, especially in the area of education, with many higher institutions that are producing quality graduates.
“We have constructed and dualised several roads linking seven local government areas in addition to being connected to the national grid.
“We also have a functional airport where commercial flight operations commenced on August 19, 2021.”
He appreciated Abacha and the founding fathers of the state for making the dream of having a homogenous Ijaw state a reality.
His added: “Although we are not yet where we desire to be, we are not where we used to be.
“I urge you all to continue to pray for your leaders, for peace of the land and success of 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 forever be etched in our hearts and history,” he said.
Describing the development of the state as steady, the governor thanked his predecessors for their efforts which his administration was building on.
“It is a demonstration of the saying that team work makes the dream work,” he said.
Diri expressed his administration’s resolve to transform the state to attain its status of the ‘Glory of All Lands”.
