APC, LP To Nominate Reps For Appointment Into Diri’s New Cabinet

• As More Bayelsans Appreciate Gains of Skills Acquisition

In the next few weeks, a new cabinet that will comprise members of the opposition APC and the LP will be in place in Bayelsa State to assist the governor, Senator Douye Diri, deliver his election promises to the people.

This is coming even as many youths from the state are beginning to accept the government’s skills acquisition training initiative, instead of roaming the streets of Yenagoa and getting involved in criminal acts and executive begging.

The governor has already given the hint of his resolve to accommodate the opposition in his new government which he said would be made known soon. He spoke on Thursday shortly after the weekly five-kilometre Prosperity Walk, which terminated at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex in Yenagoa.

He said: “l want to assure you that we will not take long in bringing our cabinet back because we are not going to create human beings from heaven. It is still the same Bayelsa people that will form my cabinet and we know ourselves.

“We will consult widely and take every segment of society and all the interests into consideration. The November 11 election was not only for my Peoples Democratic Party. It was also about the All Progressives Congress and even Labour Party members. So, do not be surprised when you see some names from such parties because everyone participated in the election.”

The sports-loving governor also said Bayelsans should look forward to a befitting stadium in the coming months, saying it was part of his efforts to encourage the youths to engage in sporting activities as well as to enable the state host national and international competitions.

“Bayelsa is a sporting state and that is why in our second tenure, we have resolved to build a new befitting stadium. The idea is to encourage the youths so that we will be able to host both national and international competitions.”

The  the latest exercise was organised by the state government in collaboration with the Prosperity Youth Coalition and GOTNI Leadership Centre.

The governor, who stressed that the days of stereotyping Bayelsa youths as militants, lazy and touts were over, noted that by their recent conduct, they have shown that they can stand out in any field of human endeavour.

He said his first tenure focused on developing the needed manpower through the building and equipping of technical and vocational colleges to redirect the focus from certificate qualifications to vocational skills.

Diri advised the participants to put the knowledge acquired to use and avoid the temptation of squandering whatever they get as starter packs.

He said: “For me, there can be nothing as heartwarming as seeing our youths in the classroom seeking knowledge. I believe that they are all keying into the prosperity mantra.

“I appreciate you for showing the country and the world who Bayelsa youths truly are and not what they think about you. In times past, people looked at Bayelsa youths as being good at militancy, that they do not want to work and that they preferred to bother multinational oil companies for peanuts. But, today, our youths are telling the world that that is not who they are.

“We can build all the roads and all the bridges but if the human beings are not developed, who will use the infrastructure we build? That is why our government is more of manpower development. That is why we decided that it is enough for certificate education only. What we need are skills.

“We are building science and technical colleges and equipping them. Our model of science and technical colleges is unbeatable. So that our young people will become employers of labour and not going to look for jobs. You must be handy with these tools.”

Earlier, Director General of the BYC, Comrade Doubara Kumokou, thanked Governor Diri for providing the platform to equip the youths with skills to enable them become self-dependent.

He said the 425 participants were selected from the eight local government areas, including non-indigenes and trader groups.