By John Ovie
A sociopolitical think-tank under the auspices of South-South Reawakening Group has hailed the governor of Bayelsa state, Senator Douye Diri over his impact in infrastructural development in all parts of the state.
The South-South group made the commendation in Yenagoa on Thursday during a breakfast roundtable on ‘Bayelsa’s Infrastructure Development Trajectory.’
The event came amidst preparations for the reception of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Bayelsa State on Friday for the commissioning of some key projects executed by the governor Diri led administration, including the 60-megawatt gas turbine located at Elebele in Ogbia local government area which is expected to supply residents of the state capital uninterrupted electricity.
A social critic and convener of the group, Mr. Joseph Ambakederimo said the gathering was meant to properly appraise the achievements of the Diri led prosperity government particularly in the area of road and other infrastructure development.
Continuing, Ambakederimo said “as I have always said, government is not to put money in people’s pockets. If a government decides to open up the state for small businesses to thrive, then we can say you are creating wealth and taking people out of poverty”
Ambakederimo recalled that Bayelsa had suffered lack of electricity for years until governor Diri took a bold decision to construct an independent source of power, adding that such was the best way to empower the people without tipping peanuts into their pockets under the guise of empowerment.
He thanked Diri for leveraging on the advantage Bayelsa has as the most gas endowed state to build a gas fired power plant for electricity supply.
Other members of the group including Prof. John Kalama, Philip Okolo, and professor of political science, Niger Delta University, environmental and human rights activist, Comrade Morris Alagoa and others scored Diri high in infrastructure and human capital development.
They also commended the governor for breaking the jinx of abandonment of inherited projects by successive governments which had plagued the state before now.
The South-South group, however, advised the governor to also focus on provision of potable water, calling for reticulation of Yenagoa and its surroundings to ameliorate the suffering of residents who are now at the mercy of water vendors.
