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…urges Diri to review political arrangement
A group, Bayelsa Rescue Movement (BRM), has decried the exclusion of some sections of the state from principal and key political appointments, noting that it is a dangerous precedent in the state.
According to the group, the contributions of Ogbia, Nembe, Yenagoa, and Brass Local Government Areas to the state’s economic well-being are too critical to be politically neglected.
The Publicity Secretary of BRM, Hon Kalas Agai Nimitenbofa, in a statement issued in Yenagoa, implored Bayelsa State governor Senator Douye Diri to urgently address ‘’what has become a disturbing pattern of political exclusion of the people of Bayelsa East Senatorial District and significant sections of Yenagoa Local Government Area from key positions of political influence within the state administration.’’
BRM, which noted that its call is not a request for political patronage but a demand for fairness, inclusion, equity and a sense of belonging for every Bayelsan.
‘’Bayelsa belongs to all of us. No Senatorial District, Local Government Area, community or group of citizens should be made to feel that it has been excluded from the affairs of the state or denied a meaningful place at the table where decisions affecting their future are made.
“As things stand, the people of Brass, Nembe and Ogbia Local Government Areas, which constitute Bayelsa East Senatorial District, as well as the people of Epie/Atissa, Okordia, Biseni, Zarama and Gbarain/Ekpetiama in Yenagoa Local Government Area, have legitimate reasons to question their level of representation in the strategic political architecture of the state,’’ it stated.
BRM, which stated that Diri’s first term was more inclusive than its current term, expressed concern that rather than replace government officials who resigned to pursue political ambitions with people from their senatorial districts, the government has replaced such officials with people from other senatorial districts to the disadvantage of Bayelsa East and the PEpie/ Atissa area in Yenagoa.
The statement read in part: We are particularly concerned about the concentration of critical political responsibilities within particular Senatorial Districts and Local Government Areas. Government is not the private preserve of any individual, family, political tendency or geographical bloc. It is a common institution established for the benefit of all citizens.
Bayelsa must not become a state where some citizens are regarded as “core” and others as “non-core” based on language, geography, political connection or proximity to power.
“Bayelsa, being the only homogenous Ijaw State, should never under any guise experience this level of pettiness and nepotism in the governance of its affairs. The administration should take urgent steps to address this anomaly, which by all standards sets a dangerous precedent capable of collapsing everything that binds us together as a people and destroying our common identity as people of the Ijaw nation.
“Bayelsa East remains central to the state’s economic life, while Yenagoa is the political and administrative capital. Their contributions to the development, revenue generation, commerce and overall wellbeing of Bayelsa cannot be ignored when political responsibilities are being distributed.
“The BRM therefore calls on Governor Diri to review the existing political arrangement and take deliberate steps to restore fairness and inclusiveness in the composition of government and the political leadership of the state.”
