Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State carpets Nigeria’ s House Representatives, saying the hitherto vibrant Green Chambers is fading away as its gradually giving way to dormancy.
Governor Diri also decried that the Nigeria local content was the only functional federal parastatal, in Yenagoa, the state capital.
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The governor spoke on the heels of the oil spill from the OML 26 Wellhead 1 facility operated by Aiteo Exploration and Production Company Limited on the Santa Barbara River, that devastated Oil rich Nembe land which castrated the economic and aquatic Livelihood of the area expressed dismay that members of the green chambers could not make any comment on the issue that drew national and International attention as a result of the adverse effects it caused.
Governor Diri who spoke when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) came visiting Government House, Yenagoa, on Monday.
The governor lamented that as the people’s representatives they were not expected to be silent but speak out on the condemnable development.
He noted with regret that “there was nowhere in the world an oil spill would last for over a month and the people’s representatives would be silent.”
As a former member of the House of Representatives himself, Governor Diri recalled that members then tackled such issues without an iota of delay and advised them to revive the vibrancy is it known for.
“I like to observe that as a part of you, the vibrancy I used to see in the House appears to be extinguishing. Please, let that spirit be revived.
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“I stand by what I said during the period of the oil spill. There is nowhere in the world an oil spill of such magnitude will occur and the legislators would be silent. I drew a parallel with the oil spill ten years ago in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Here in the creeks of Bayelsa, we had a gushing oil spill for more than one full month and there was a loud silence from my own constituency, the Green Chamber. So, let us revive that vibrancy again.”
Describing the devastating spill as a thing that should concern all Nigerians, Governor Diri pointed out that one did not have to be a Bayelsan to raise a motion in the sacred floor of the House on the spill, likening it to Boko Haram insurgency and banditry ravaging the North that every member had raised motions to see to its end.
He commended the robust partnership between the state and the Simbi Wabote-led Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), which he said was the only functional federal presence within Yenagoa.
Chairman of the House Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring, Hon. Legor Idagbo, earlier in his speech, informed that members of the Reps committee were in the state on oversight duties on the NCDMB, and expressed satisfaction over the fruitful interactions with the Board.
Highlighting duties of the committee, Hon. Idagbo stressed that it was the constitutional responsibility and part of their legislative function to strengthen the NCDMB and sponsor bills in line with current realities.
One of such bills, according to him, is to expand local content beyond oil and gas to every other sector of the Nigerian economy.
Hon. Idagbo who lauded Governor Diri for providing siren atmosphere for the operations of the NCMB commended his partnership with the NCDMB by providing infrastructure at the Oloibiri Museum and Research Centre project, for ensuring peace and stability at the Board’s headquarters and at every of its other project sites in the state.