From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Ahead of the forthcoming general elections, Governor Douye Diri has urged Bayelsans to reject violent politicians.
Diri, in his New Year message, implored politicians in Bayelsa and elsewhere to be “tolerant and eschew violent conducts”.
“The election should be a contest of ideas and choices and not an opportunity to settle political scores or an excuse for calumny. And that is why we must insist on some irreducible minimum required for those who seek leadership roles.
“We must choose leaders that will not play politics with development. Leadership is about vision while politics is about positions.
Indeed, our endorsement of people with a fixation with politics has only hindered the actualization of the lofty dreams for our state by our founding fathers.
“We must therefore reject those who insist that they will rule not by building bridges of consensus but by brigandage; not by the ballot but by the bullet. In the end, power belongs unto God,” he said.
Diri restated his “commitment to ensuring that Bayelsa remains safe and peaceful is irrevocable” adding that the recent recruitment of 600 youths was part of the strategy to checkmate criminals in the state.
“We have continued to retool and rejig our security architecture just as we have put in place robust strategies to combat crime and criminality.
Our seriousness in this regard is underscored by the signing of the Bayelsa Community Safety Corps Law. Already, the State Government has recruited 600 youths across the eight Local Government Areas who are currently undergoing a 2-month intensive training to equip them to effectively combat miscreants. Our zero-tolerance approach to criminality has been encouraging as many citizens in the state can now attest to a more peaceful and safer state.”
While recalling the devastating flooding that ravaged the state in 2022, the governor reassured the people that the state government would continue with “post-flood reconstruction of our damaged infrastructure, particularly, the Amassoma Road leading to the Niger Delta University.”
Diri, who noted that, “we have allowed ourselves to be segregated along narrow, parochial lines” charged the people to “resolve to rise above our instincts and embrace the Bayelsa State envisioned by our founding fathers- the Glory of All Lands- we can all be proud of.”