Seven years after the passing of former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Solomon Peter (DSP) Alamieyeseigha, the people of the state led by the deputy governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo and elders of the Ijaw nation have honoured the deceased.
Speaking at the ceremony, Bayelsa State governor Douye Diri described the legacies of Chief Alamieyeseigha as indelible and unforgettable, saying he laid a worthy foundation under very trying circumstances for successive governments to build the state.
Represented by his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the governor said the Amassoma-born hero passed on at a time when the ovation was loudest as a true Ijaw son and political liberator who championed the struggle for resource control and fiscal federalism in Nigeria.
The governor said Alamieyeseigha sacrificed himself for the first Ijaw man to become president of Nigeria through his doggedness and advocacy for the minorities to be recognised at the top echelon of national politics.
Governor Diri likened the leadership qualities of Alamieyeseigha to that of King Solomon in the Bible, stressing that his predecessor was wise enough to lay the foundation for the political, economic and educational development of Bayelsa.
He encouraged the immediate family to continue to take solace in the legacies their father and husband had left behind, and promised to sustain the annual programme in honour of the departed hero of the state and the entire Niger Delta. “When people say that Alamieyeseigha felt offended, I always reply, he was just fighting all his battles to immortalize his name as a David. He was also a Solomon, because he laid the foundation for which other governors have been building on,” he said.
“He was a wise man to have established the Niger Delta University, initiated bursary, attracted foreigners to bring home investment and so he remained one of the greatest Kings to have ruled Bayelsa. He was also a Peter, who stood for resource control and stood by the gospel of resource control and he was crucified for it.
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