Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for initiating the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project, calling him the “grandmaster of partnerships.”
Speaking on Thursday, April 3, 2025, during the Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC) medical outreach in Yenagoa, Governor Diri highlighted the significance of the project, which fulfills a decades-old demand of the Ijaw people for better coastal connectivity.
“The president has done what the Ijaws have been requesting for. I remember my days in the Ijaw National Congress, where we discussed the need for coastal roads linking Lagos to all the coastal states. This was over 30 years ago. Now, under President Ahmed Tinubu, that road has been awarded, and this is what the Ijaws wanted,” Diri stated.
Diri explained his choice of words in describing Tinubu as a “grandmaster of partnerships.”
He recalled his previous efforts to collaborate with the Muhammadu Buhari administration for road development in Bayelsa, which yielded little success despite numerous letters to the presidency.
According to the governor, former Minister of Works Babatunde Fashola was the only official who responded to his appeals, but the sought-after partnership for the Nembe-Brass road did not materialize.
However, under President Tinubu’s administration, significant progress has been made.
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“Our President, I will call him the grandmaster of collaboration.
Since I became governor, I have faced challenges developing three critical senatorial roads: Nembe-Brass road, Informational road, and Ekeremor-Agge road.
I reached out to the past government, but nothing concrete happened.
“Now, under President Tinubu, I wrote again, visited him, and Bayelsans can see the results. The first phase of the Nembe-Brass road is almost complete, and the president has already awarded the second phase. The contractor has reported to me and has already mobilized to the site,” he said.
Diri expressed optimism that Tinubu would see the coastal road project through to completion, ensuring better connectivity for coastal communities in the Niger Delta region.