Boat tragedy inspired Southern Ijaw road projects — Diri

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri.

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has said his administration’s determination to break the jinx of inaccessibility in one of the oil-rich local government areas in the state motivated him to embark on the construction of roads and bridges in the area.

The governor also stated that road infrastructure not only boosts connectivity but also promotes economic opportunities.

Diri spoke on Thursday at his country home in Sampou when he hosted a delegation of Southern Ijaw women and his former students from the 1986 set of Government Secondary School, Amassoma.

The delegation included the Acting Paramount Ruler of Amassoma, Chief Godswill Akedesuo, and the Commissioner for Women, Children Affairs, Empowerment and Social Development, Joanah Gigi, who were among his former students.

Diri recalled that during his first-term campaign in 2019, the major concern raised by residents of the area was the need for a road linking Oporoma, the local government headquarters, which had remained inaccessible by land for years.

He further narrated how his kinsman, late Chief F.K. Agara, a prominent Ijaw leader and politician, died from injuries sustained in a boat mishap during a political campaign at Oporoma before Bayelsa State was created in 1996.

Diri said the incident highlighted the need for roads and bridges linking rural communities to the state capital, adding that when he became governor, he decided to break the jinx.

He said, “One of my kinsmen died in a boat mishap at Oporoma when him and others were on a campaign. He fell off the boat and the propeller injured him. By the time he was taken back to Port Harcourt, he gave up. And l decided that l was going to break that jinx.”

Diri, who noted that the cost of road and bridge construction in the area and across the state could have discouraged any leader, assured residents that his administration would not be deterred from realising its vision.

He thanked the women for recognising his administration’s achievements, stating that he shared in their joy over the construction of the bridges at Aguobiri and Angiama and the road to Oporoma, which he said would open up the area.

“On behalf of government, l thank you for your show of love and support for my administration. When the cost of constructing the bridges at Aguobiri and Angiama and the road to Oporoma was given, it was fearful and anybody could have chickened out.

“One of the features that brings about civilization is road infrastructure. Many communities like mine, Sampou, suffered the same fate because then they were not connected by road.

“I am as elated as you are that we completed the bridges and have taken the road to the Southern Ijaw local government headquarters. We can now drive to that place and to several other communities.

“On boat from there to Olugbobiri now takes about 15 minutes and from Oporoma to Ekowe is only about five minutes. Significant progress is also being made on the road to Eniwari. Your gesture is heartwarming, and it will spur us to do more,” he said.

While endorsing the candidature of Hon. Rodney Ambaiowei, the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer for Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency, he urged the people of Southern Ijaw to vote for President Bola Tinubu and other APC candidates at all levels in the upcoming election, stressing that the President had been supportive of the state’s development efforts.