Pa Stephen Ebibai buried in grand style, as Bayelsa Govt Condoles Family, Urges Ijaw People to Embrace Truth
The father of the Bayelsa state commissioner for Finance Pa Stephen Bazidor Ebibai has been buried in his country home Patani in the Patani local government area of Delta State.
The Bayelsa State Government sent a high powered delegation to condole with its Commissioner for Finance, Mr Maxwell Ebibai, his family and the people of Patani in Delta State over the death of his father, Late Sergeant Stephen Bazidor Ebibai.
The delegation led by the state deputy governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, had some national officials of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, including the National Financial Secretary, Mr Woyengikuro Daniel, Member, Board of Trustees, Chief (Mrs) Remi Kuku and the party’s South-South Zonal Secretary, Chief Felix Omemu.
Others included the State PDP Chairman, Mr Solomon Aguanana, Deputy Speaker, Bayelsa House of Assembly, Mike Ogbere and several members of the House, Secretary to the state Government, Rt Hon Konbowei Benson, Commissioners and President, Ijaw National Congress, Professor Benjamin Okaba.
Representing Governor Douye Diri at the reception shortly after the funeral service in Patani Town, Senator Ewhrudjakpo expressed the condolences of the government and people of Bayelsa to the bereaved family.
According to the Governor, the Late Sergeant Ebibai lived a productive, courageous and God-fearing lifestyle that must be emulated by not only his immediate family but also by every true Ijaw son and daughter.
He stressed the need for Ijaw people to promote the positive aspects of their culture, especially as it concerns upholding and speaking the truth as well as fighting against oppression and injustice.
Governor Diri restated his call on the younger generation to embrace entrepreneurship and shun criminal activities such as armed robbery, kidnapping and cultism, which are fast destroying the good image of the proud Ijaw ethnic nationality.
In an interview, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Maxwell Ebibai, said his father lived a courageous but simple lifestyle and served the country meritoriously as a military man.
Mr Ebibai expressed gratitude to the Bayelsa State government and all who contributed to the success of the burial programme.
Aged 83, Late Stephen Ebibai was born in 1938 at Ogeinwari in Patani, Delta State and was enlisted into the Nigerian Army in Lagos on the 30th of August 1967.
According to his biography, he served in Bonny Island in Rivers State, where he fought the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, and several other states until his retirement as a sergeant in June 2003.
Pa Ebibai died in May this year and is survived by a wife, thirteen children and several grandchildren.
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