The All Progressives Congress, APC Governorship candidate for the November 11 governership election and former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva has taken a swipe at the Bayelsa State Governor Senator Douye Diri describing him as clueless and lacking the capacity to improve the living standard of Bayelsans.
Speaking at Oporoma, headquarters of Southern Ijaw LGA and Ologbobiri in Constituency 4 during his campaign tour of communities in Southern Ijaw LGA, Slyva said Douye Diri’s cross incompetence has brought poverty and infrastructural dearth to the state, saying that things have gone so bad to the extend that appointments are given out on a daily basis.
He stated that it is a pity that Diri lacks well articulated development blueprint on how to turn around the fortunes of the state, emphasizing however that he has the experience, standing, exposure and laid down plans as he can out performed Diri in terms of developing Bayelsa.
He identified poverty as the greatest problem bedeviling the state because able bodied, qualified and educationed women and youths are jobless, adding that if voted into office he would create jobs, educate the people, pay bursary, gives scholarships and empower the people as according to him human beings are the greatest resource of any society.
The former Governor stated that his government will ensure that the people are empowered and developed by providing infrastructure, electricity, education and develop a gas based economy in order to create wealth as well as revamp the Peremabiri rice farm to create jobs for our teeming unemployed youths.
He promised to light up Oporoma community with solar lights within the first 100 days of being a governor, assuring to connect Oporoma to Ekowe by road and described the bridge constructed along Angiama River as a death trap that is not fit for a State like Bayelsa in the 21st Century.
Sylva said:” The problem in Bayelsa State is that of poverty. People do not have money in their pockets why because most people not have jobs. Most of them are able bodied, they have skills, they are educated and qualified but no work. We must make sure that Bayelsans have work because this is one aspect of human capacity development. We will give work to our people, we will empower our people, we will educate our people, we will give scholarships and we will pay bursary.
” Oporoma people you have an opportunity on the 11 of November you have a date with destiny to change your lives, when you vote for myself and my deputy you are voting to change your destiny. You can see that this government does not know what to do again. Everyday they are carrying appointments as if they are selling it. Let’s tell ourselves the truth, the man, Diri does not know how to govern the people. Sometimes I feel sorry for him, because he doesn’t have the capacity and is doing what he can’t be able to do.
” I have the experience, I have the standing and the exposure and I can surpass Diri by far. Frankly, if it’s something I can laugh about I would have done so because he is confused. But why I can’t laugh is because people are dying, people are hungry because of your confusion. So when I see the lack of capacity of the man, I have to come to contest the election to make life better. I want to assure you that if you vote for me and my deputy your lives will never be the same again.”
At Ologbobiri, the APC Governorship candidate while addressing the mammoth crowd stated that ” We are here to thank you for all the support we have continuously get from Ologbobiri. This time am coming to be governor I have a profile from Ologbobiri community. Someone said here that 16 commissioners are not up to one deputy Governor so Ologbobiri must see this as your own government. I don’t want to come here and make empty promises .The first point of our agenda knowing that this is one of the biggest problem from Bayelsa State is human capacity development, empowerment and education of our youths.
” Our youths must be gainfully employed so that they can chanel this energy to positive ends. I also promise everywhere I go that the second point of my agenda is infrastructural development, as you are aware Bayelsa lacks infrastructure. Road infrastructure, water infrastructure, power infrastructure, educational infrastructure and health infrastructure. And I promised the King when I visited him that we are going to continue from Yenagoa the road that is at Angiama.
” That road was started by me, I was the one that crossed the bridge from Swali and then I took the road down close to Ayama community. I will come back again and continue that road this time that road will come to Ologbobiri. The King and the Council has already given me a drawing to point me in the right direction and I will go a study the drawing they have given me and I want to assure you we will work together.
” I will empower sons and daughters of Ologbobiri. When I come back to Ologbobiri as Governor of Bayelsa State, we will start to count the millionaires that we have made from Ologbobiri. We want to produce what we eat and eat what we produce and therefore we are going to ensure we invest highly in agriculture. In this part we are fishermen, we will make sure that we become the fish basket of Nigeria. We will produce enough fish to feed ourselves and enough to export, some of the most richest countries in the world are fishing nations. We will produce enough fish for export and make our state a very rich state. We also produce rice because rice does well in swamp and we have abundance of swamps.
” So my dear citizens of Bayelsa State, citizens of Ologbobiri I will work with you to create value not only for ourselves but for generation yet to come. We will stabalize power and in my first 100 days I will make sure we light up the whole of Ologbobiri with solar lights and most importantly we will secure you Bayelsans. So on November 11 when you go out don’t look left or right but go straight and vote for the APC.”