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| Governor Diri |
The governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, pleaded with the federal government to permit the Niger Delta's people to manage the resources that God has given them and pay taxes to the government as it is done everywhere in the world.
Speaking at Chief Melford Okilo's 15th memorial ceremony on Tuesday, the late former governor of the old Rivers State, Diri called the man a patriot who shaped him politically.
He claimed to have followed in Okilo's footsteps, becoming involved in Ijaw activism and being exposed to the injustices he always complained about and attempted to rectify.
Diri advised the political class to follow in the footsteps of the late Rivers governor and reject the culture of violence in order to hold political power.
Diri urged President Bola Tinubu to reconstruct Nigeria in order to solve some of the injustices that he (Tinubu) as well as Okilo had experienced while reciting Okilo's ideas.