Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri is worried by the spate of crisis in Rivers State as a result of the events that greeted the tenure elongation saga involving local government chairmen who insisted that they would not vacate their offices at the end of their tenure.
Diri expressed the concern after a state executive council meeting in Yenagoa, following his return from The Bahamas, where he and his Lagos State counterpart attended the AFREXIM Bank’s Annual Meeting (AAM) in Nassau.
A statement by his chief press secretary, Daniel Alabrah quoted Diri as having urged those behind the skirmish to give peace a chance in order to keep the state on a steady path of development.
Describing Bayelsa and Rivers people as having a common heritage, the governor noted that his administration needed to collaborate with Rivers to promote economic development and reduce poverty in the region.
“We call on all key actors to eschew bitterness and sheathe their swords in order to give peace a chance. There must be give-and-take so that the much needed development can take place and people will not suffer. We are all praying for peace to be restored in Rivers State.”
On the gains of the Bahamas trip, Diri said the move was part of efforts to attract investors to the state. The 4-day event had in attendance national and sub-national governments from across Africa and the Caribbean, political leaders and institutions from both regions as well as corporate organisations.
Diri stressed the need for people of the state to appreciate his administration’s initiatives at attracting development partners that would harness the economic potential of the state in order to create jobs and bring about economic prosperity.
The governor said he held fruitful meetings at the four-day event and that he has directed his team to follow up on them, noting that his travels out of the country were in the state’s interest.
“We will take our destiny in our hands and look for development partners across the world. We had fruitful meetings and l tasked my team to follow up on all the meetings so that we can have investors.
“Whenever l move out, l do so in the interest of our state. In my last trip, l put Bayelsa on the map of Africa. There were two governors, Bayelsa and Lagos, at the meetings,” he said.
