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Chief Perekeme Kpodoh, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says Yenagoa, the state capital, does not portray Bayelsa as an oil-producing state.
Kpodoh, a former Security Adviser in Bayelsa government, expressed his dismay against the backdrop of a radio broadcast by Gov. Douye Diri on Saturday.
Diri listed his achievements and gave his administration a pass mark in the broadcast
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Diri saying his administration, which took off on Feb. 14, 2020 has done very well.
But Kpodoh in a statement on Sunday said the current Diri-led administration had done nothing significant to give Yenagoa the required facelift and reposition it to attract tourists and foreign investors.
He said when compared to Uyo in Akwa Ibom; Port Harcourt in Rivers; Calabar in Cross River, and Benin in Edo, Yenagoa smacked of underdevelopment and reflected the wickedness of the state government.
He said other non-oil producing states like Ebonyi had repositioned their capital city better than Bayelsa, that is ranked as the fourth in terms of oil production revenue.
“Abakiliki, the capital city of Ebonyi State, which is one of the poorest non-oil producing states in the country, has witnessed significant transformation under Governor Dave Umahi.
“But Yenagoa, the capital of one of the richest oil-producing states is lagging behind under Governor Douye Diri, who styles himself a miracle governor. What an irony,” he said.
Kpodoh said the government jettisoned the master plan of the city and resorted in undertaking uncoordinated, disjointed, disorganised and inferior projects that had made Yenagoa to continue to assume an outlook of a glorified local government headquarters.
He said it was unfortunate that a project to dualise the few kilometer Isaac Boroh expressway had taken the state government more than 10 years to complete.
Kpodoh wondered why Diri refused to build a flyover at the Tombia roundabout but instead opted to do what he referred to as roundabout expansion.
He said: “The original design is to have a flyover at the Tombia roundabout end of the Isaac Boroh road dualisation project. But instead of following the original plan, which would have contributed in giving the city the desired facelift, governor Diri ordered a poorly executed roundabout expansion.
“That poorly expanded roundabout betrays the capital city status of an oil-producing state like Bayelsa. Tombia roundabout, which links visitors to other parts of the state, including the International Airport, deserves a beautiful flyover infrastructure with all accompanying aesthetic nuances”.
Kpodoh further criticised Diri for destroying what he described as illegal structures in Yenagoa without making efforts to rebuild and readjust them.
“Yes, we agree that illegal structures should not be allowed in the city, but it is irresponsible to destroy and leave them in rubbles. The destruction without any plan to immediately rebuild them and evacuate the rubbles has further defaced the capital city,” he said.
The former security adviser said it beat the imagination of everybody that a tower hotel project started by the government of the late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha at the heart of the city had remained uncompleted.
“This monument of disgrace is a perfect description of the lip service paid to the development of Yenagoa by the state government. Governor Douye Diri’s administration doesn’t appear disturbed by this edifice of embarrassment.
“It is time we rose up and demand a better capital, Yenagoa city, that will reflect our status as an oil-producing state. We can no longer continue to tolerate this sham development of our capital city,” he said. (NAN)