My Disagreement With Umahi — Diri

Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Diri, on Thursday, revealed his disagreement with the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, on the continuing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway challenge.

Governor Diri additionally disclosed the place of the South-South governors on the challenge, insisting that they had been unanimous of their assist for the coastal highway and towards its re-alignment with the East-West highway.

The Bayelsa governor was nevertheless unsparing in his response to the feedback of a former governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke, who he described as a jester, a pretender and a politician and not using a base.

An announcement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, stated he spoke through the 2 hundredth session of the state govt council in Government House, Yenagoa.

His phrases, “I learn, like everybody else, that there can be a realignment and that the coastal highway can be merged with the East-West Road, which I don’t consider is identical challenge. That needs to be a South-South highway.

“I privately referred to as the Minister of Works and stated, “Honourable Minister, that could be a no, no, no for us. These are two totally different initiatives.

“I agree with you that the East-West Road needs to be reconstructed. It known as the East-West Road, however its reconstruction mustn’t take the place of the coastal highway.

“While you reconstruct the East-West Road, the coastal road must continue because you have already won the hearts of all the coastal states.”

He acknowledged that the dialogue obtained to the purpose that they disagreed.

“I told him that, for me and my state, the coastal road must continue. He kept mentioning Mr President’s name, and I felt that he was the implementer, and was the one who addressed the media. So, go back and tell Mr President that this is the position of the governors of the South-South, because I also speak as chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum.”

On Donald Duke, the Bayelsa governor stated he was perplexed watching a video clip of the previous Cross River State governor converse on the challenge on a tv programme.

Diri expressed shock {that a} son of the South-South may describe the challenge as not possible as a result of, in keeping with him, Bayelsa was a swamp.

“When I watched the video and listened to everything he said about the coastal road, what actually made me respond was the example he gave using my state, Bayelsa. He said the coastal road was not feasible, and his reason was that even the state capital of Bayelsa is a swamp. According to him, for the coastal road to pass through Bayelsa, 100 to 200 bridges would have to be constructed.”

The Bayelsa helmsman, who described Duke, the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate as a pretender, stated he did nothing as governor when the Bakassi Peninsula was ceded from Nigeria to Cameroon.

“You faux to be a presidential candidate of PRP. There isn’t even a councillor from PRP in Cross River. Not even in your personal ward. Yet, you faux to be a presidential candidate in order that on the finish of the day you could be rehabilitated.

“You can proceed to be your nationwide and worldwide champion and not using a nucleus, and not using a base.

“I counsel you to return and settle the large money owed hanging over the heads of generations but unborn, money owed that you just incurred and handed on to successive governments in your state.

“Do not use Bayelsa State for instance of a spot the place roads can’t be constructed. You had been in workplace when Bakassi was ceded out of Nigeria. But as a result of you weren’t a neighborhood champion, you probably did nothing about it.

“Above all, Donald Duke, you launched into a white-elephant referred to as Tinapa. You took loans and incurred money owed that you just positioned an enormous burden on the individuals of Cross River State and each governor and authorities that succeeded you. That is as a result of you weren’t a neighborhood champion.

“I believe you are more of a jester and a pretender. You pretend to be a presidential candidate, even though you have been out of government for over a decade — almost two decades.”

Diri defined that it was not in his character to interact in public disagreement or combat with individuals.

“I’m not a kind of who insult individuals. I don’t insult leaders or elders. But what you’ve carried out is not only about me. It is about my surroundings and my individuals. I’ll all the time stand tall to defend this surroundings and the individuals of Bayelsa State.

“With our limited resources as a state government, we are building bridges and roads in the same swamp that he says cannot be developed. We are inviting him to come to Bayelsa since he has used our state as an example.”

He stated that in his earlier response, he reminded Duke that it was the identical swamps that produced the golden egg that fuelled all the Nigerian financial system.

“Yet, after that press statement, which I asked my Chief Press Secretary to issue, the former governor of Cross River State went back to say what I saw as more of an insult to my person. He started by saying, “That fellow.”

“Donald Duke, I’m not that fellow. I’m the sitting governor of Bayelsa State.

“He additionally stated, I don’t even know that fellow. But I don’t want you to know me from Adam, and I don’t know you simply as you have no idea me.

“Hear me properly: I’m not that fellow. I’m an elected, sitting governor of Bayelsa State, and I’m very stunned that that is coming from a son of the Niger Delta and, extra importantly, a former governor who ought to respect the workplace of a governor always.

“He didn’t cease there. He went on to say that, since I have no idea him, he’s a neighborhood champion.

“Yes, I am a local champion because that is where I was raised. I was elected to defend the local people. I was elected to champion their cause. I was elected to see possibilities where there seem to be impossibilities.”

According to Diri, it was time to finish the troublesome terrain narrative about Bayelsa in relation to its improvement.

“Enough of this narrative that the Bayelsa environment cannot be developed. Oil and gas resources can be taken away from our land, but the land itself cannot be developed? That is a fat lie from the pit of hell, and we reject it.”

Diri praised President Bola Tinubu for the coastal freeway challenge and that it holds a lot significance for the Niger Delta individuals and the Ijaw nation specifically.

“The coastal highway is a vital, related and impactful challenge for each state alongside the shoreline, significantly for us within the South-South and Bayelsa State.

“If you recall, on the day we were all crossing over from PDP to APC, I brought out a document containing the demands of the Ijaw National Congress (INC). One of the major demands, dating back to the military era, was the construction of the coastal road. These were some of the relevant issues that made some of us decide to say, “okay, let us go.”

“I prefer to seize this chance to thank Mr President. The very considered it alone — that these coastal individuals mustn’t proceed to wallow in poverty and be dehumanised, and that they shouldn’t be seen as second-class residents of this nation — is commendable.

“If we can have roads in the North and other parts of the country, then the coastal road should also be built. The very idea of it is a big plus for Mr President and his administration. I welcome it with both hands.”