From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa

Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri has again given security agencies a pat on the back for the effort and sacrifices they are making to maintain peace and security in the state.Diri gave the commendation when he spoke at a dinner organized by the state government to honour staff and students from the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, who were on a study tour to the state, at the Chief Dappa Biriye Conference Centre in Yenagoa.

The Governor, who spoke through his deputy, Sen. Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, acknowledged the synergistic working relationship among security agencies, and urged them to maintain it to continually address the security needs of the state.He disclosed that the vision of his administration is to make Bayelsa the most peaceful state in the country to attract both domestic and foreign investments to complement efforts at achieving enhanced economic development and prosperity.Diri, who thanked the study tour Coordinator and his team for coming, and expressed the hope that the report from their study would be made available to the State Government whenever it was ready.His words: “The Bayelsa State Government has been doing its best in terms of security, but we believe that your study will further give us the headway and the tail wind in the area we are not flying very fast.”You are going to help us as part of the compass that we are going to use to fly to our destination, in terms of providing an all round resilient, robust, resistant, combative, determined and committed security system in Bayelsa State.”We believe that your presence in our state and the study you have carried out will be of added advantage to our aspirations and our determination to have a very peaceful, productive and prosperous state.”Let me again commend the various security agencies that are working with us in the state. They have been of immense support to us, and that is why you see that Bayelsa State is one of the most peaceful states.In his remarks, the Coordinator of the Senior Course 47 Study Team to Bayelsa, Brigadier General Ernest Orakwe, described the purpose of their visit as “perfectly achieved” due to the uncommon cooperation and support of the state government.He assured that the team would make the report of their study available to the government to add value to the existing security architecture and strategies of handling internal security challenges in the state.”Our tour has been eventful, impactful and memorable. Starting from the warm reception accorded to the team at the Government House, to the logistics, administrative and transportation support we receive from the state government.”We also want to thank the office of the State Commissioner of Police, the office of the Chairman, Yenagoa Local Government, and down to other establishments that we visited in the course of our duty. What we observed in all was preparedness to receive us and to give us the best treat in Bayelsa State.”I must also say that the very essence of our study which hinged on the topic,” Harnessing Grassroots Intelligence for Enhanced Internal Security Operations” was well achieved. This was made possible by all the establishments visited. After all, I must mention that the very essence of our study tour to Bayelsa was perfectly achieved,” he added.The Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Nimibofa Ayawei, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Government House, Irorodamie Komonibo, his Deputy Governor’s Office counterpart, Comrade Gowon Toruyouyei, the Commissioner for Information, Hon. Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai and several other government functionaries attended the dinner.