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How We Managed Protest in Bayelsa – Gov Diri

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From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri has advocated dialogue as the best option to address issues rather than resorting to protest or violence.

Diri stated this at the weekend in Government House, Yenagoa during a live media chat.

While fielding questions from journalists, the governor spoke on the ongoing nationwide protest, stating that Bayelsa remained largely peaceful and secure because of the resolve of Bayelsans, particularly the youths, to key into the peaceful disposition of his administration.

While acknowledging that protest was the constitutional right of every citizen, Diri however, applauded people of the state for maintaining the peace, law and order, saying no meaningful development can take place in an atmosphere of rancour and violence.

He said: “Before August 1, l engaged with the youths, religious bodies and other stakeholders and maintained that dialogue was the best approach because we envisaged that the protest could be hijacked by persons that do not mean well for our state.

“From day one of the #endbadgovernance protest till today, there has been no real protest in the state. I thank our elders, parents, religious leaders and our productive youths of Bayelsa for listening to the voice of reason and for sustaining the peace that we all are enjoying. The protest in Bayelsa is dead.

“The number one agenda of our administration is peace. There was too much hatred in the polity. When we came on board, we first of all set out to unite our people. Today, l am happy to announce that Bayelsans are united more than ever before.”

According to the governor, his administration has been responsive to the needs of the people by adopting a bottom-top approach.

“There is peace in the political terrain of Bayelsa because leaders of the two major political parties can eat together today. We also have some of them as members of my executive council.”

On infrastructure development, Diri said although the state was not where it is expected to be, his administration had made tremendous strides in road construction, particularly the three senatorial roads.

He stated that considering the number of roads and bridges constructed since he assumed office in 2020, Yenagoa will no longer be described as a one-road capital city.

Responding to questions on power generation, the governor explained that his administration had commenced the process of building an independent power plant and that discussions with investors had been very fruitful.

Speaking on the new national minimum wage, Diri suggested that the value of the naira would have been stabilised before setting the minimum wage of N70,000 so that it will not be affected by the current high inflation.

“It is better to improve the value of our currency because whatever gains made by raising the minimum wage will be wiped away by inflation.”

On the flood alerts by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), the governor advocated that the federal government should do more by providing a permanent solution through building of dams to contain flood waters.

He explained that the flood challenge of the state was not due to rainfall but that the rivers had become shallow and needed to be dredged.

He also stated that due to paucity of funds, the state government is unable to embark on capital-intensive projects such as building dams and dredging of the rivers.

“This is one area we seriously need the federal government to come in and help our state.”

The governor, however, said his administration had taken measures to prevent and mitigate the flood if it eventually occurs in the state.

On teachers, he said in a few weeks, the process to employ 960 secondary school teachers will be completed and the successful candidates will get their letters.

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Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths

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The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.

This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.
57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)

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APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads

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The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.

He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka.
Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora.
”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NAN

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Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar

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The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.
(Xinhua/NAN)

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