Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa, has called on the people of Rivers State to give peace a chance in order to attract more development to the state.
Diri who described Bayelsa and Rivers people as having a common heritage, noted that his administration needed to collaborate with Rivers to promote economic development and reduce poverty in the region.
He said this on Wednesday during the 129th State Executive Council meeting in Government House, Yenagoa.
“We call on all key actors to eschew bitterness and sheathe their swords in order to give peace a chance.
”There must be give-and-take so that the much needed development can take place and people will not suffer. We are all praying for peace to be restored in Rivers State, ” he said.
On his participation at the recent AFREXIM Bank’s Annual Meeting (AAM) in Nassau, The Bahamas, the governor said it was part of his efforts to attract investors to the state.
Diri stressed the need for people of the state to appreciate his administration’s initiatives at attracting development partners that would harness the economic potential of the state in order to create jobs and bring about economic prosperity.
The governor said he held fruitful meetings at the four-day event, adding that and he had also directed his team to follow up on them.
Diri also said that, his travels out of the country were in the state’s interest.
He said: “We will take our destiny in our hands and look for development partners across the world. We had fruitful meetings and l tasked my team to follow up on all the meetings so that we can have investors.
“Whenever l move out, l do so in the interest of our state. In my last trip, l put Bayelsa on the map of Africa. There were two governors, Bayelsa and Lagos, at the meetings.”
The governor expressed appreciation to his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo and other members of the Executive Council for the smooth running of affairs of the state for the one week he was away.
According to the governor, the four-day event had in attendance national and sub-national governments from across Africa and the Caribbean, political leaders and institutions from both regions as well as corporate organisations.
