ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has urged the critics of the state to be objective in their assessment of the government’s performance.
He said that Bayelsa is not underperforming in terms of development considering the peculiar challenges confronting the state.
Diri stated this at the weekend during the opening of a three-day solemn assembly as part of activities lined up for the 2021 Bayelsa Annual Thanksgiving celebrations at the Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall, Government House, Yenagoa.
Diri, who spoke through his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, emphasised that Bayelsa was not lagging behind any of the states created the same day with it by the former Head of State, late General Sani Abacha.
Diri, who described Yenagoa, the state capital, as almost devoid of any trappings of infrastructural development at the point of its creation, challenged critics to be objective in their comparative analysis.
He pointed out that unlike its peers, everything put on the ground was built from the scratch by successive administrations right from the military era to the present under very challenging terrain and scarce resources.
Diri, therefore, urged people of the state not to be despondent and talk down at their leaders and government, but rather play collaborative roles to move the state forward.
According to the Governor, the task of developing Bayelsa is a collective responsibility that should not be left alone for leaders and those in authority.
He maintained that God had done enough for the state, and therefore, stressed the need for Bayelsans to see the annual thanksgiving event as an elaborate opportunity for them to express gratitude to God.
Diri said: “Bayelsa State is dear to us. The task of development is a collective responsibility. It is only when we come together and play our roles that we can have a viable state.
“I don’t believe that Bayelsa has not progressed as a state. When you reflect on the status of Bayelsa today and what it was 25 years ago, you will have every reason to thank God and be grateful to Him.
“If we continue to speak ill of our leaders and of our state, the state would remain desecrated and backward. Let us speak good of our leaders and our state.”
In his exhortation drawn from the Jeremiah Chapter 29 verse 11, Reverend T.Y. Emmanuel said God had done his part for the state, noting that “what is left now is for the people work hard and take Bayelsa to the next level of development.
Reverend Emmanuel pointed out that the panacea for the things that were going wrong was to build the state on a new foundation of integrity and honesty.
He stressed the need for Bayelsa people to close ranks after every election season by setting aside their partisan differences and working together to build the state.
The only Bible lesson of the service was read by the Bayelsa First Lady, Dr. Gloria Diri, while special prayers were offered for the president, vice-president, the governor and his deputy as well as the country and the state.