Celebrating one’s birthday with public funds as a public officer amounts to waste of public funds and an abuse of the sensibilities of the masses. This is the position of the Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri.
Diri who turns 65 on Wednesday, June 4, said in a statement on Monday that he was too mindful of the mood of the nation at this time to begin to think of any form of public celebration of his birthday.
The governor who has never embarked on any public celebration of his birthday since assumption of office in 2020 noted that the only thing anybody could do for him on his birthday was to pray for the peace and continued prosperity of the state.
He also said the economic situation in the country and the developmental challenges of the state required that all hands are on deck rather than spending scarce resources on frivolous celebrations.
The Bayelsa governor advised those who want to celebrate him in the media to jettison the idea and rather divert such resources toward human capital development as well as in promoting the unity and peace of the state.
He said his administration remained single-minded and focused on its agenda of effective transformation of the state in line with its vision of a shared prosperity for all Bayelsans and thanked people of the state for their unrelenting support and urged them to continue to pray for the success of his administration.
