The Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, on Friday, called on the Federal Government to consider renaming the East-West Road in the South-South region to reflect its real location and status.
He also urged the government to ensure more inclusiveness in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to give the Niger Delta people a sense of belonging.
Diri spoke when he received the Minister of Niger Delta, Abubakar Momoh, and his entourage, which included the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Samuel Ogbuku, at the Government House in Yenagoa.
The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, noted that the road had been in a deplorable condition for years, contending that the nomenclature of the road, which crisscrosses all the south-south states, was a misnomer.
He said, “I believe that is a wrong nomenclature. That nomenclature should be the South-South Road because it links all the six states of the South-South region. That nomenclature might have come in those days when Bayelsa was part of Rivers and they were part of the (old) Eastern region, and when Delta and Edo states were part of the (old) Midwest region.
“Today, the story is different and I appeal to the Federal Government to change the nomenclature from East-West to South-South Road. That road is central to all the six states as it traverses all of them.”
“Unfortunately, at the moment, the road is nothing to write home about. That is one of the reasons people of this region feel that we are being shortchanged even with all that we produce. With all that we bring to the federal kitty, what actually comes to us is more like peanuts. And often, when the peanuts come, there are some out there opposing it.
“We actually believe that in a federal system of government, regions and states should be allowed to exploit what is in their region and states and pay taxes to the Federal Government as that is the standard across the world,” he added
Diri, however, commended President Bola Tinubu for the appointment of Momoh as the minister and Ogbuku as the substantive NDDC MD as illustrious sons of the Niger Delta.
On the impact of the Niger Delta Ministry on the region, the governor said there was a need for more inclusiveness by the ministry.
He added, “I like to bring to your knowledge that the Ministry of Niger Delta (Affairs) is too far from people of the region; far not in terms of location but the people of the Niger Delta want to feel and own that ministry as their own.
“The current situation is that the people are alienated from that ministry in terms of budget preparation, in terms of policies and their implementation. The people are asking for inclusiveness. We believe that your coming will bridge this gap between the people of the region and the ministry.”
While also speaking, Momoh said he was in Bayelsa to seek collaboration with the state government on issues of development in the region, which included the completion of the East-West road.
The minister, who lamented the poor state of the road, described it as significant to the region that houses some of the nation’s strategic assets.
He, however, sought the collaboration of Niger Delta governors to tackle the region’s developmental challenges.
