DIRI, SECOND TO NONE IF ONLY AWARDS WERE LEGACY PROJECTS

– Bags about 8 awards in two years

By Famous Daumiebi Yenagoa

It is absolutely impressive and commendable that Douye Diri in less than three years in office has received over seven different awards from various bodies across the federation. Awards are actually received in recognition of unique contributions by recipients to humanity and I will take my time to list the said awards but not in any particular order of preference:

– The Independent Newspaper Award where he received the Governor of the year Award.
– The Bayelsa Media Award, where he also recieved the Most Impactful Governor of the year Award
– The First News Award where he named the Man of the Year.
– The Most Youth Friendly Award by Eminent youths and Student leaders
– The Press Freedom Champion Award by the Reps Corp
– The Distinguished Covid-19 response award by the National Association of Medical Scientists
– The NUJ friend of the Media Award
– The Exemplary leadership Award by the University of Port Harcourt Alumni.

At this rate, we should be expecting another 8 before the end of his first term as they may already be in the pipeline for all we know and this is brilliant indeed.

However when we attempt to match the number of awards received so far with the volume of legacy projects completed by the Diri led prosperity administration, it supplies a shocking revelation.

Permit me to mention the completed projects I know and in response to this, I expect the government press to take up the challenge of providing the public with a more comprehensive list.

I know of the beautiful Media house that was completed and commissioned a few months ago, everyone also knows the Tombia Roundabout rehabilitation work that is equally impressive and how could I forget the street lights. What else?

Is it the widely noised Diri boost project which by the way is a fluke otherwise where are the beneficiaries? Or the shameful rice pyramid project where governor Diri himself confidently demeaned Bayelsans on a Channels television interview where he said on live television that Bayelsans will no longer eat rice only on festive periods because Bayelsa has joined the league of rice producing states? Indeed! Or is it the misappropriated multi-billion naira agricultural loan as alleged and popularised by John Idumange?

Is it the commissioning of incomplete road projects like the Igbogene-Okarki road, the Yenagoa-Oporama-Ukubie road, the outer ring road which leads nowhere yet? Is it the promise the government made
about a year ago, when the honourable commissioner for works ESV. TEIBOWEI, MOSES AMASSOMA, FNIVS announced that 50 internal roads will be rehabilitated in Yenagoa, where are these roads?

Despite the huge federal allocation to the state, the state debt keeps spiking. The first loan this government obtained upon assumption of office was not to improve the health sector, nor to fund education, neither was it to boost the security architecture of the state or the micro economy which the COVID 19 pandemic at the time seriously affected, rather it is on record that the loan was expended on the purchase of vehicles.

There is great concern over the lack of convincing answers by the Diri administration to the accountability question raised severally by Mr. John Idumange and other concerned Bayelsans who on several occasions and on divers media platforms literally pleaded with the government to provide their developmental blueprint for the state which would have necessitated their consistent progress feedback to the people and by so doing provided adequate information for citizens participation in the developmental process. The government would rather keep the people in the dark.

What is the Douye Diri led administration hiding?

Why does it appear that the many awards received by Diri within 2 years, is a calculated attempt to conceal incompetence knowing that even some past presidents of this country did not received that much in four years?

I add an award to the existing ones and it is the award for having far more awards than completed projects, and that award goes to…