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Don’t cause division between Jonathan and Dickson, Okorotie tells mischief makers

By Julius Osahon, Yenagoa
27 May 2017   |   3:40 am
Elder Statesman and one of the founding fathers of Bayelsa State, Chief Thompson Okorotie, yesterday, warned troublemakers against fomenting political crisis in Bayelsa State.

Okorotie, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said enemies of Ijaw struggle were making frantic efforts to cause division between former President Goodluck Jonathan and the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson.<br />

Elder Statesman and one of the founding fathers of Bayelsa State, Chief Thompson Okorotie, yesterday, warned troublemakers against fomenting political crisis in Bayelsa State.

Okorotie, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said enemies of Ijaw struggle were making frantic efforts to cause division between former President Goodluck Jonathan and the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson.

Governor Dickson has on May 16, a day to mark the remembrance of the iconic, Isaac Adaka Boro, berated Ijaw political office holders, for wasting six good years of the opportunities given them at Federal level. The governor comments was met by strict criticism from the political class, who felt Dickson was referring to the former President, Goodluck Jonathan

But Okorotie, in his reaction, said haters of the existing peace in the state were behind the misrepresentation of Dickson’s speech at the just-concluded annual celebration of Ijaw hero, late Major Isaac Adaka Boro.

Okorotie said the governor’s speech was never intended to disparage the former President adding that Dickson only lamented lack of commitment to the ideals of Boro and the significance of the celebration.

“I was present at the event; the governor queried the low-level of commitment and inadequate connections to the Boro dream. This situation accounts for public office holders especially at the national level not contributing positively to the development of Bayelsa State.

“This translates to several missed opportunities. The governor, therefore, regretted the attitude of our ministers and others at the national level as they have not contributed meaningfully to the development of the state. He held the belief that the struggle, which Boro started, was predicated on the need for development of the Ijaw nation.

“The views expressed by the governor on the years of wasted opportunities, which included our six years at the helms of affairs of the country was not intended to disparage the person of former President Goodluck Jonathan”.

Okorotie said Dickson’s speech was a call to duty to ensure that people effectively utilize their opportunities to serve the Ijaw nation adding that his views were widely shared by vast majority of Bayelsans and others in the Niger Delta region.

Okorotie said nobody had given more support to the former President than Dickson especially during the presidential elections and the heroic welcome the governor accorded to Jonathan.

He said: “What was said by the governor, in my humble view, does not warrant the extreme negative and divisive views that had been expressed by a very few people who do not wish the Ijaw ethnic nationality well.

“It is, therefore, my advice that professionals of incitement and hate peddling should stop their strenuous attempts at dividing the Ijaw nation and promoting crisis in Bayelsa State, which has enjoyed sustainable peace and security to the envy of other states”.

The elder statesman, called on the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide to arise above their divisions and carry out their mandates of uniting and protecting the Ijaw nation.

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