Bayelsa elders, leaders endorse Gov. Diri for second term
...Says his tenure has witnessed politics without bitterness
Isaac Ombe, Yenagoa
Hope rises for Bayelsa State governor’s second tenure bid as prominent Ijaw leaders have endorsed him.
The Ijaw leaders including, the Bayelsa Elders Council, among others, gave the governor high hopes to clinch the second term ticket in the November gubernatorial polls.
The endorsement event which took place at a well-attended interactive session organised by a socio-political group, Friends of Governor Douye Diri (FSDD), at the DSP Alamieyeseigha Banquet Hall in Yenagoa, on Monday, night said Governor Diri as a product of the Ijaw struggle has transformed the struggle into the development of the state as governor.
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Chief Joshua Fumudoh, Pioneer President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), in his remarks, noted that Governor Diri as a product of the Ijaw struggle, had seen it all and translated his passion for the Ijaw nation into development and transformation of the only homogeneous Ijaw state.
Chief Fumudoh asserted that there was a clear difference between those who fought the Ijaw cause and others whose ambition were for personal gains.
According to him, since Governor Diri became the governor, Bayelsa State has now witnessed politics without bitterness because the true Ijaw man accommodates all irrespective of political differences.
Also speaking in the same vain, Dr. Ethel Diete-Spiff, a former First Lady of the old Rivers State, wife of HRM Diette Spiff, who became governor at the age of 24, commended the governor for breaking boundaries in execution of landmark projects, particularly the Nembe-Brass road, and urged him not to relent but do more.
Prof. Ayebaemi Spiff, a member of the Bayelsa State Creation/Founding Fathers Forum, in her remarks also commended the senator Diri for his impactful developmental strides as she poured her motherly blessings on the governor as she fervently prayed that the Nembe-Brass road is completed in due time so she could drive on it before she leaves the stage.
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Admiral Gboribiogha John-Jonah (rtd), Chairman of the occasion and leader of the Bayelsa Elders Council, in his remarks, described the November 11 date of the Bayelsa State election as a symbolic day for victory.
Admiral John-Jonah, who is the immediate past deputy governor of the state, traced the date, 11:11, back to 1918 when the peace accord between Germany and the Allied Forces was signed, and called it the armistice day.
Describing the coming together of the founding fathers of Bayelsa state and past leaders of the INC in support of Diri’s second term bid as victory assured, the retired naval officer noted that as elders and leaders of the Ijaw nation, they would not fold their arms and allow cultists, deceivers and pretenders to take over the state, adding that Bayelsa had made tremendous progress under Diri and was not ready to go back to the dark days.
John-Jonah, who is a kins man of the APC guber candidate , Chief Timipre Sylva , described governor Diri as his brother and friend, stressing “Diri was the agent of change that has taken the state out of darkness”
Responding to the accolades, elated governor Diri who expressed gratitude to the leaders, elders and founding fathers of the Ijaw nation for honouring him with their endorsement, stated that they had been his pillar of support since he assumed office and that without them he would not have achieved much.
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Diri said he had always enjoyed the company of the Bayelsa Elders Council and the Founding Fathers Forum, attending their meetings from time to time to seek counsel, and stressed that this has helped shape his decision to do more for the people.
He said: “This group (FSDD), to my mind, has the fathers, mothers, leaders and elders of the Ijaw nation. If you look at the array of personalities here, most of them had served the Ijaw nation in the old Rivers State and were even in the battle for the creation of Rivers State. So they have seen it all.
“The symbolic statements by those who have spoken, you will agree with me that they did not just speak from their human perspective. So, I like to thank you my fathers, mothers, elders and leaders. Without you, we could not have recorded the little we have achieved within these three years and still counting. You have been a pillar of support in several ways.”
While agreeing with with the speakers that the state cannot change a winning team as all the gains of his administration would be neglected by the opposition due to their anti-people agenda, Senator Diri averred that having traversed the length and breadth of Ijawland, his primary objective is to write his name in gold before leaving office after eight years.
Prince Bodi Arerebo, President of the Friends of Senator Douye Diri, in his welcome address said the mission of the group is to promote the goals of the Diri administration and that of the Ijaw nation.
Arerebo said having carried out an overall assessment of the administration, it discovered that relative peace, political tolerance, passionate development and non-existence of political thuggery and violence were its hallmark, and that these necessitated the group’s endorsement of the governor for a second term.
