Why I Constructed Roads, Bridges In Riverine Southern Ijaw – Gov Diri

Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has said that his administration’s determination to break the jinx of inaccessibility into one of the oil-rich local government areas in the state motivated him to embark on construction of roads and bridges in the area.

The Bayelsa governor also stated that road infrastructure boosts not only connectivity but also promotes economic opportunities.

Senator Diri spoke on Thursday at his Sampou country home when he played host to a delegation of Southern Ijaw women and his students from the Class of 1986 at the Government Secondary School, Amassoma.

In the delegation were the acting paramount ruler of Amassoma, Chief Godswill Akedesuo, and the Commissioner for Women, Children Affairs, Empowerment and Social Development, Joanah Gigi, who were his former students.

Diri recalled that during his first term campaigns in 2019, the major concern raised by people of the area was a road linking Oporoma, the local government headquarters, which had remained inaccessible by land for years.

He further narrated how his kinsman, late Chief F.K Agara, a prominent Ijaw leader and politician, died from injuries sustained in a boat mishap during a political campaign at Oporoma before Bayelsa’s creation in 1996.

Diri said the incident provided an insight on the need for roads and bridges linking rural communities to the state capital and that when he became governor, he decided to break the jinx.

His words: “One of my kinsmen died in a boat mishap at Oporoma when him and others were on a campaign. He fell off the boat and the propeller injured him. By the time he was taken back to Port Harcourt, he gave up. And l decided that l was going to break that jinx.”

Diri, who noted that any leader could have been put off by the sheer cost of road and bridge construction in the area and across the state, assured that his administration would not be deterred from actualising its vision.

He expressed gratitude to the women for recognising his administration’s achievements, stating that he shared in their joy over the construction of the bridges at Aguobiri and Angiama and the road to Oporoma, which would open up the state.

“On behalf of government, l thank you for your show of love and support for my administration. When the cost of constructing the bridges at Aguobiri and Angiama and the road to Oporoma was given, it was fearful and anybody could have chickened out.

“One of the features that brings about civilization is road infrastructure. Many communities like mine, Sampou, suffered the same fate because then they were not connected by road.

“I am as elated as you are that we completed the bridges and have taken the road to the Southern Ijaw local government headquarters. We can now drive to that place and to several other communities.

“On boat from there to Olugbobiri now takes about 15 minutes and from Oporoma to Ekowe is only about five minutes. Significant progress is also being made on the road to Eniwari. Your gesture is heartwarming, and it will spur us to do more.”

Diri hailed his former students at GSS Amassoma for their brilliant academic performance, saying that he was proud of what they had become.

While endorsing the candidature of Hon. Rodney Ambaiowei, the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer for Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency, he urged the Southern Ijaw people to vote President Bola Tinubu in the upcoming election and all other APC candidates at all levels, stressing that the President had been supportive of the state’s development efforts.

According to him, President Tinubu’s government approved construction of the second phase of the Nembe-Brass road, granted waiver for the delivery of the state’s gas turbines as well as awarded the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

In her remarks, the Commissioner for Women, Children Affairs, Empowerment and Social Development, Joanah Gigi, expressed appreciation to the governor for the opportunity to serve in his cabinet.

Gigi appealed to the governor to give more appointments to her classmates.

Also, the Vice Chairman of Southern Ijaw Local Government, Dr. Josephine Ekeuwei, praised Governor Diri for constructing the Yenagoa-Oporoma road, which she said has added value to their lives.

She particularly thanked the governor for appointing one of their own, Gigi, as commissioner, stating that Southern Ijaw people were impressed with his achievements.

Leader of the Class of 1986 delegation, Rev. Innocent Opuene, said Diri taught them Government in school and appreciated him for his administration’s support to his former students.

Present at the event were Hon. Ambaiowei, state lawmaker representing Ekeremor Constituency 1, Hon. Tare Porri, his Kolokuma/Opokuma Constituency 1 counterpart, Hon. Pamoh Werinipre, Dr. Isaac Kumokou, and top government functionaries.