Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has urged his Rivers counterpart, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, to take measures that would help restore peace in Rivers to ensure speedy development.
Diri advised on Thursday when Fubara, accompanied by top government functionaries, visited him in his country home in Sampou, Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area.
NAN reported that it was Fubara’s first official visit to Bayelsa since he assumed office on May 29, 2023.
Diri described the importance of peace in any area as unquantifiable, saying that no meaningful development could take place in an atmosphere of crisis.
He said that Rivers and Bayelsa had a long-standing brotherly relationship and whatever affects one also affects the other.
He said that he had been concerned about the political crisis in Rivers and had worked behind the scenes to ensure peace returned to the state.
He cautioned against giving ethnic colouration to the crisis, saying that the Ikwerre of Rivers and the Ijaw of both Rivers and Bayelsa are one.
He further said that they could not afford to fight each other as it would amount to “a senseless battle between brothers.”
The Bayelsa governor also advised Fubara to be tolerant and patient while focusing on delivering development to the people of his state.
While expressing willingness to forge closer ties with the Rivers governor in the interest of both states, Diri welcomed Fubara’s olive branch to find an amicable solution to the legal crisis between both states.
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