MOSIEND Marks Bayelsa at 30, Urges Federal Focus on Niger Delta
Bayelsa State's 30th anniversary has drawn congratulations from the Movement for the Survival of the Izon Ethnic Nationality (MOSIEND), which also used the occasion to ask the federal government to direct greater development effort towards the state and the Niger Delta as a whole.
A statement issued by MOSIEND President Dr. Kennedy Tonjo West said the anniversary resonates with the group because it belonged to the coalition of organisations and patriots that campaigned for Bayelsa's creation.
"MOSIEND was part of the wider movement of organisations and patriots who pressed for the creation of Bayelsa, and we remember that struggle well," West said.
West said Bayelsans deserve credit for their resilience, recalling that the state was created in difficult terrain and began life with very limited resources. Since then, he added, it has recorded genuine progress and remains on a growth path.
He commended Governor Douye Diri for his administration's performance and advised him to keep up the momentum, bring more people into the business of governance and continue opening opportunities for residents.
Tribute was also paid to the state's founding fathers and pioneers, whose vision, courage and sacrifice, West said, created the foundation on which Bayelsa stands today.
Turning to the decades ahead, West asked Bayelsans to guard peace, unity and a shared sense of purpose. Political differences, he said, are important but must never be allowed to rank above the state's future.
He advised politicians against reducing every matter to politics, stressing that Bayelsa's interest has to come ahead of party interest.
West renewed the call for the federal government to give Bayelsa and the wider Niger Delta the developmental attention they are due, observing that opportunities in agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, maritime enterprise, energy, oil and gas services, and logistics are still largely untapped.
In his view, any part of Bayelsa can grow into an economic and industrial centre capable of providing jobs, earning revenue and contributing to Nigeria's prosperity.
"Bayelsa's future is bright, but it will not build itself," he said.
MOSIEND urged government, political leaders, traditional institutions, businesses, youths and citizens to place development above division, production above dependency and the future above the politics of the moment.
The organisation prayed for God's continued blessing on Bayelsa, protection for its people and guidance for its leaders, and asked that the state become an even greater centre of peace, prosperity and enterprise.
"At 30, we celebrate how far Bayelsa has come," West said. "More than that, we believe in how far it can still go."
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