By Mbah Okemsinachi, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, has said there are similarities between his emergence as governor of the state and the June 12 saga as he paid tribute to those who lost their lives a few days to the state’s November 16, 2019 governorship election.
The governor who described the deceased as the “Martyrs of Nembe’, noted that the lives of those innocent citizens were brutally terminated by anti-democratic forces.
Governor Diri stated this in his Democracy Day message to Bayelsans and assured that he had no greater obligation than ensuring that people of the state lived in peace in order to attract the desired prosperity he promised.
In a statement by his acting chief press secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, the governor was quoted as stating that his administration would continue to extend the hand of fellowship to those who are aggrieved for them to join in the process of building the Bayelsa of their dreams.
According to Senator Diri, the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election remains a watershed in Nigeria’s political history, as it epitomized “the collective aspiration of Nigerians to enjoy the dividends of democracy and create a better life for themselves.”
He said, “I can identify many similarities in my emergence as governor of this state and the June 12 saga. I recall with deep sorrow the blood of the Martyrs of Nembe, innocent lives brutally terminated during the November 16 governorship campaigns by anti-democratic forces. They will forever be recognized as our own heroes of democracy.
“Our support transcended clans, communities, kingdoms and faiths. So, when the collective will of the people had been disdainfully cast aside and election results concocted, our mandate was divinely restored at the 11th hour by the God who resides in heaven and rules in the affairs of men”.
The governor promised not to disappoint the people.
“I am therefore conscious of the task before us, gratified by the confidence you have bestowed in me, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our Martyrs of Nembe, to bring us to this point. I will continue to covet your prayers and wise counsel, rest assured that I will not undermine or take your mandate for granted.”