My Legacies Will Speak For Me After My Tenure-Diri
2 min read
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, on Saturday night in Yenagoa undertook what can be termed a self appraisal on his efforts at developing the state and concluded that his legacies will be there as a testament to his activities, after he must have left office.
It came after members of the Nigeria Guild of Editors who visited project sites in parts of the state and returned with one verdict: the governor has converted the state to a project site and is not relenting in connecting the state by road.
These happened in the course of this year’s All Nigeria Editors Conference, ANEC, which took place in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. The editors also honored Diri. The plaque was presented to him by Sam Amuka, publisher of Vanguard Newspaper.
The governor made two remarkable pronouncements at the gala night put together by for the editors. First, in line with the request made by the president of the NGE, Eze Anaba, that an annual lecture be instituted in honour of the first editor of the Daily Times and son of Bayelsa State, the late Ernest Ikoli, he said the lecture would commence next year.
Also, in line with another request by the NGE president, that the governor should employ the two interns with the state television, the NDTV, who were not lucky to be so absorbed last year when the governor announced the employment of their colleagues, Diri also announced that they be employed into the state civil service.
He said: “For us, it is a rare privilege to serve our people. Opportunity like this does not come often. By the constitution of Nigeria, I am barred from contesting again as governor of Bayelsa State.
“So, the only thing that will speak for me, my deputy and most of us in this administration, is the legacy that we leave in terms of both human and material infrastructure. Developing the state is now in our hands and we will keep doing our best in the remaining three years so that when we leave, the state will continue to feel our impact having travelled this eight-year journey in service to people of Bayelsa State and Nigeria.”
In a welcome remark, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mrs. Ebiowou Koku-Obiyai, commended the Guild for promoting excellence in journalism and for successfully organising the 20th ANEC.
Highpoint of the night of glitz and glamour was the presentation of an award to Governor Diri by the Guild and the induction of 12 new members.
Two initiators of the ANEC, Halilu Baba Dantiye,m and Angela Agoawike were also honoured by the Guild.
