When Coastline Communities Needed Help Most but Were Abandoned -BDI

There is a saying that the wealth of coastline communities is in the sea, but without government support, being a coastal community could become a clear curse.

This is currently the undertone in Odioma community, in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Ecological problems have taken the centrestage here, and the much-expected government intervention is far from coming.

This is why the Bayelsa Development Initiative (BDI) is taking the state government there to the cleaners, saying it has failed in addressing the ecological challenges of coastline communities, Odioma being one.

And

In a statement issued today in Yenagoa signed by the BDI Secretary, Michael-Sam Rodamini, it refused to take kindly, a recent visit to Odioma by Bayelsa State governor, saying it is belated.

In fact, he described it as uninspiring play on politics with the welfare of the Odioma people.

The visit to the coastline communities ought to have happened before now, argued Rodamini, and not the afterthought it had become, coming a clear two days behind that of the governorship candidate of Labour Party in the state,  Mr. Udengs Eradiri.

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“The traumatised people of Odioma cried for many weeks and begged for urgent interventions from the government to save them, but the Diri-led PDP government turned deaf ears to their pains.

 “The people of Odioma were abandoned to the surge, which continued to encroach into the communities pulling down houses of different sizes and rendering the inhabitants homeless. Nothing was done by this incompetent government.

 “But immediately the LP Candidate, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, visited the area to inspire hope, Governor Diri assembled his entourage and went there for political reasons. We make bold to say that Diri’s visit was politically motivated against the backdrop of his struggle for reelection in the state.

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“We want to tell Governor Diri that the people of Odioma and indeed the entire people of Bayelsa are not foolish. They know when people are genuinely concerned about their plight and when they only play politics for votes. The people have woken up and are determined to change these political hawks that had hovered around the state for many years”, he argued.

“They (previous administrations) all cry over poor internally-generated revenue but failed to realise the economic potential of the ocean surrounding the state to generate massive internal revenue.

 “We remembered that when the erosion started eating up the community of Obogoro and destroying people’s hard-earned assets, the people cried, lamented and begged the government for help, but Diri’s government ignored them providing no help.

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 “The people kept crying. Many of them lost their buildings and turned tenants in neighbouring communities. Some even lost their lives. But the insensitive administration of Diri carried on as if all is well. But as the election drew closer, the government reluctantly started shoreline protection but later abandoned it.

 “We cannot continue to allow these kind of people at the helm of affairs. The Labour Party candidate, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, had continued to raise the alarm over the development in Obogoro. We need to send these PDP leaders out of the Creek Haven and enthrone a better alternative”, he asserted.