• State Honours Abacha, Jonathan, Ex-MILADs, Boro, Dickson, Others
• Jonathan Dedicates Award To Late Alamieyeseigha
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has credited the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, with freeing the Ijaw people from what he described as years of oppression and injustice through the creation of Bayelsa State in 1996.
A statement by the Diri’s Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, said the governor spoke on Thursday night at the Dinner and Awards Night marking the state’s 30th anniversary, held at the Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall, Government House, Yenagoa.
The event, tagged “Celebrating Legacies,” was the grand finale of the four-day anniversary programme and attracted former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan; members of the Abacha family, including Abba Abacha and Alhaja Fatima Gumsu Abacha; members of the National Assembly, diplomats, business leaders and senior government officials.
The state conferred honours on 63 individuals and institutions for their contributions to the creation, development and identity of Bayelsa.
Diri said Abacha’s role in creating Bayelsa on October 1, 1996, remained particularly significant to the Ijaw people, who, according to him, had previously been distributed across different states and often constituted minorities within them.
“If at every point in my remarks I keep calling him, it is because of what God used him to do for the Ijaw ethnic nationality,” Diri said.
“General Abacha might mean different things to different people, but to Bayelsans, he is the one who freed us from oppression.
“He freed us from injustice and gave a homogenous state for a people that had been balkanised into various states, and making us minority in some.”
The governor expressed appreciation to Abacha’s family, represented at the event by his son, Abba Abacha, and his daughter, Fatima Gumsu Abacha.
Diri said the creation of Bayelsa had provided a platform for the state to develop from what he described as a territory with virtually no infrastructure into a state with expanding road networks, educational institutions, healthcare facilities and other major projects.
He recalled that Bayelsa had no tertiary institution at its creation but now had more than five, comprising universities, polytechnics and a college of education.
He also cited the transformation of the Mbiama-Yenagoa road, which he said was a single-lane road at the state’s creation, into a broader network of highways, including dualised roads and the three senatorial roads.
On healthcare, Diri said successive administrations had also contributed to significant improvements in the sector.
“So much has been done, and we can rightly say that Bayelsa had moved forward and no longer where it used to be,” he said.
The governor described the award recipients as part of the state’s enduring legacy and congratulated them for their contributions.
Jonathan Honours Alamieyeseigha
Responding on behalf of the honourees, former President Goodluck Jonathan dedicated his award to his late political mentor and former Bayelsa governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
Jonathan recalled that Alamieyeseigha brought him into politics and made him his deputy governor, marking the beginning of a political journey that eventually took him to the presidency.
He also defended the significance of celebrating Bayelsa’s 30th anniversary, saying the state had made substantial progress despite not yet reaching its full potential.
“Although we have not reached where we are supposed to be, I am happy where we are. I am happy that Bayelsa State was created, and we have gained tremendously,” Jonathan said.
He said Bayelsans would remain grateful to Abacha for making the creation of the state possible as one of the six states established by his administration.
READ ALSO: Bayelsa At 30: Diri Eulogises Founding Fathers, Says Much More Remains To Be Done
Jonathan also commended Diri for organising the anniversary and recognising individuals who contributed to the creation and development of Bayelsa.
Boro, Dappa-Biriye, Dickson Among Honourees
Among those honoured were Major Isaac Adaka Boro, Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former military administrators of the state and former governor Senator Seriake Dickson.
The former military administrators recognised included the late Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade, Navy Captain Phillip Ayeni, Police Commissioner Habu Daura and Colonel Edor Obi.
The awards also recognised individuals associated with the preservation and promotion of Ijaw identity and culture, including the late British-born linguist, Professor Kay Williamson, and former Ijaw National Congress president, Chief Joshua Fumudoh.
In the sports category, honours went to Olympians Daniel Igali and Blessing Oborududu, as well as former Super Eagles players and coaches Samson Siasia and Finidi George.
Musicians recognised included the late King Robert Ebizimor, Inetimi Odon, popularly known as Timaya, and Timi Dakolo.
Other recipients included former Head of Service of the Federation, Dame Didi Walson-Jack, and academics such as Professors Ayebaemi Spiff, the late Lawrence Ekpebu, Ebiegberi Alagoa, Dimie Ogoina and Youpele Beredugo.
The state also honoured several Bayelsa-born businessmen, including Chief Dan Etete, Gesi Asamaowei, Preye Berezi, Chief Ken Etete, King Ebitimi Banigo, Dr Ephraim Faloughi, Dr Daru Owei and Chief Robert Enogha.
The Bayelsa State Cultural Troupe, former National Security Adviser General Owoeye Azazi, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Heineken Lokpobiri, nationalist and pioneer Daily Times editor Ernest Ikoli, and teenage chess player Deborah Quickpen were among other recipients.
The event was attended by several traditional rulers, political leaders, government officials and members of the diplomatic community, including ambassadors of Germany, Portugal, Italy, Vietnam, Angola, the Czech Republic and São Tomé and Príncipe.
The 30th anniversary celebrations centred on the theme of recognising the people and institutions whose contributions shaped Bayelsa from its creation in 1996, while highlighting the state’s development journey and the challenges that remain.