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.