As a product of the Ijaw struggle, having served as one time Organizing Secretary of the Ijaw National Congress, INC , Governor Douye Diri’s love for his people is legendary. In the last couple of months, he has taken the campaign against the environmental degradation of the oil rich Niger Delta and the seeming unbalance in allocation of her resources to local and global fora, thereby carving a niche for himself as the lone voice of the oppressed peoples of the Niger Delta. And having lost a large chunk of our resources to the Government at the centre, Governor Douye Diri has began the campaign to shift attention from the depreciating oil and gas sector ,to the new found gold; the marine and Blue Economy. He has told anyone who cares to listen that ” the Resource of Bayelsa lay in the beds of the Atlantic Ocean “. It is therefore no surprise that when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu created the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy last year, Sen Douye Diri became the first State to follow the foot steps of the government at the centre, when early this he announced the creation of a Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. His reason was simple; to diversify the economy of Bayelsa State and at the same tap into the multi trillion dollar trade which the Marine and Blue Economy provides. He did not just stop at creating the Ministry, he went ahead to appoint a tested and trusted technocrat in Dr Faith Zibs Godwin to steer the Ship of the new Ministry.
A proven technotract of no mean repute, Mrs Godwin is known have delivered on several critical tasks assigned to her by her Principal, hence she was picked to oversee the new Ministry. Speaking last week in Yenagoa during a Validation Session of the policy framework for the Bayelsa State Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy , which attracted critical stakeholders from key maritime agencies both in the Public and Private sectors including the academia , Gov Diri said ” we all know the reality that the oil beneath our land wont flow forever, as it is inevitable that the wells we have relied upon will one day dry…” He said the time to prepare for life after oil is now, and that the blue Economy offers a vast array of opportunities in maritime shipping, fishing and aquaculture, coatal tourism, renewable energy, undersea cabling, seabed extraction, marine biotechnology and the emerging field of marine generic resources. The Governor explained that his administration was committed to creating pathways where young people can build successful careers in the areas enumerated above.
Gov Douye further unveiled the desire of Bayelsa State to build a deep Sea Port that he hopes will transform the State into a major gateway for International trade ,creating thousands of jobs, boosting local businesses and attracting global investments. As ambitious as his optimism seems, it is left to be seen how he intends to deploy the commensurate political will and resources to achieve these tall dreams, like we have seen in Lagos state with the timely completion and commissiong of the Lekki Deep Seaport project and the construction of a new one in Badagry.