Chief Samuel Ogbuku, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, has, on behalf of his Ayakoro Community in Ogbia Local Government of Bayelsa State, pleaded with Governor Douye Diri to once again extend his developmental projects to the community.

Speaking during the 68th Ayakoro Annual Festival, which commemorates the historic relocation of the community from its old location to their present settlement, Ogbuku described his community as very peaceful, adding that Governor Douye Diri, being a man of peace, should extend his hand of fellowship to the community.

Describing Governor Douye Diri as a peaceful man, the MD of NDDC appealed that more projects be awarded and executed by the government in the community to complement existing ones carried out by the NDDC and the Prosperity Administration.

Ogbuku said: “Your Excellency, as a community, while we appreciate what you have done for us, we also want to appeal that you carry out more projects in this community so as to complement the existing ones carried out by your administration and the NDDC.

“The secondary school building standing close to this arena is a project done by your administration.

“I want to, on behalf of this community, still appeal to His Excellency that, for the fact that we have been able to showcase that we are a community of peace, and you being a man of peace, you also need to award more projects from Bayelsa State Government to this community.

“Thank you for being a blessing to me, and we know that for the fact that you are here today again, we are most probably going to overcome the challenges we are facing in this community. We believe that for the fact that you are visiting today, you are also going to leave behind some of the blessings that you have brought to Ayakoro.”

He explained that the festival celebrates the resilience of the people: “The character of our people, and the fact that our people confront the unknown, because one of the major difficulties of human beings is our ability to face the unknown. We had no future in crossing into a forest where nobody lived before.

“We are not only celebrating the crossing of the community because we were ravaged by flood and erosion on the other side, but also marking the completion of land reclamation, which means erosion was eradicating this community. So we are not only celebrating the crossing of land, but also celebrating the faith of our fathers and the development of Ayakoro.

“Development cannot occur in an environment where there is no peace. The people of Ayakoro have been very peaceful, believing that tomorrow will always be better. They have never achieved anything through fights or struggles, but the Lord has always blessed this land. That is to say, our fathers foresaw the future, knowing that this was the promised land where blessings were made.”

Speaking earlier, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State disclosed that when projects are executed in rural communities, people can live there while working in the state capital and return home safely.

Governor Diri reiterated his commitment to executing more developmental projects across the state, maintaining that his desire for these projects was to improve the living standards of the citizens.

Diri noted that it was based on this notion that his administration embarked on the construction of the Yenagoa-Angiama-Oporoma-Ubie road, the Akaba-Okodi road, and others across the state.

“Ayakoro is one of the benefiting communities of the Akaba-Okodi road project, and that road has gone far. I don’t think that from the point the road has reached to Ayakoro community is up to 2 km. We’re determined to develop Bayelsa State with infrastructural projects.

“Today we can see a new Ayakoro, courtesy of what my brother and friend, the MD/CEO of NDDC, is doing. Some people like talking down on others, but if you investigate properly, you’ll find out that they are the ones doing what they accuse others of. I don’t believe in running people down. We must stop that kind of politics.”

The Chairman of the occasion, Chief Obinna Iyiegbu, popularly known as Obi Cubana, in his opening remarks, commended Ayakoro community for sustaining their culture and tradition.

Obi Cubana described cultural festivals as veritable tools for attracting tourists and investments, maintaining that what he witnessed in the community depicts love, bonding, and shows how peaceful the community is.

Also, the Chairman of the community’s Council of Chiefs, Chief Pureaziba Akpoti, who gave the history of the festival, noted that prior to the formal relocation of the community to its present location, its people were scared of that part of the community as it was a deep forest believed to be inhabited by spirits and other dreaded creatures.

“It took prayers and consultations with spiritualists for the community to successfully cross over to this new site in 1958. This place used to be a forest in which our people believed that spirits and other dangerous creatures lived.”

It will be recalled that the annual festival, tagged ‘Eyal Obeyin,’ commemorates the community’s historic relocation in 1958 from its old settlement to the present location due to worsening erosion at the time.