By David Owei,Bayelsa

Bayelsa State has met the World Bank assessment for the supply of potable water across its capital city, Yenagoa, and environs.

Governor Douye Diri disclosed this on Wednesday during the 196th State Executive Council meeting held in Government House, Yenagoa.

He described the development as “good news” for Bayelsans, stating that the bank will, in collaboration with state government officials, begin mapping of Yenagoa and some neighboring communities for water infrastructure deployment.

Senator Diri noted that with ongoing efforts to achieve stable electricity and potable water supply, his administration would have delivered the basic requirements for societal growth.

His words: “We have been on this water thing with the World Bank, and Bayelsa is one of the states that has passed the hurdle of the bank.

“So the World Bank will alongside our state government officials go round the whole of Yenagoa and some neighboring places. They will deploy geo-mapping and also sensitise the people on this water supply project to Bayelsans.”

He further stated that by providing water, electricity, road infrastructure, schools and health facilities, his administration was laying a solid foundation to attract private sector investment to the state.

The Bayelsa helmsman stressed that government was not always the best businessman and advocated public-private partnership as the way forward for industrialising the state.

He called on Bayelsans to take advantage of the foundation being laid by his administration, adding that outsiders might see the economic opportunities in the state before them.

“Investments do not hang in the air. We have seen how some other some past governors made certain investments but those investments are now a shadow of themselves. I believe every economy is mostly private sector driven,” Diri said.

“Sometimes we may not even see the opportunities as Bayelsans. It is outsiders that see them before our people. So let us open our eyes to the opportunities for economic growth.”

During the meeting, the governor received an Award of Excellence for Disability Inclusion presented by the Commissioner for Women, Child Empowerment and Social Development, Mrs. Joanna Gigi.

According to the commissioner, the recognition from Persons Living With Disabilities (PLWDs) was for the governor’s commitment to disability inclusion, particularly his assent to the Persons Living with Disabilities Law 2026, which she described as a significant milestone for the state.

The PLWDs also acknowledged the administration’s efforts under the Assured Prosperity Agenda, which saw to the appointment of 40 persons with disabilities into government positions, and the employment of over 20 physically challenged persons into the state civil service.

By our correspondent

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I Jibrin, was in Accra, the capital of the Republic of Ghana, where he urged youth to key into the promotion and preservation of cultural heritage.

He made the remarks as a Guest of Honour at the World Hausa Day 2026 celebration organised by Hausa Youth Ghana at the Forecourt of the State House, Accra, at the weekend.

He commended Hausa Youth Ghana for promoting the Hausa language, culture and heritage, describing the initiative as a significant contribution to strengthening the relationship between Ghana and Nigeria.

He was accompanied by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Army and Chairman, Northern Senators Forum, Senator Abdulazeez Yar’Adua; Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, Senator Muntari Dandutse; and Chairman, Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education, Senator Lawal Adamu Usman.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, the Deputy President of the Senate described World Hausa Day as an important platform for celebrating the rich heritage, language, culture and identity of the Hausa people, while promoting friendship, unity and mutual understanding among communities.

He noted that Hausa is much more than a means of communication, stressing that the language has, for centuries, served as a bridge among people across West Africa and played significant roles in commerce, scholarship, diplomacy, literature, traditional institutions and social interaction.

According to him, the widespread use of Hausa across national borders reflects the deep historical, cultural and social connections that exist among Africans.

“Ghana and Nigeria share a long history of interaction in trade, education, migration, culture and diplomacy. The Hausa community in Ghana has also continued to make meaningful contributions to the social and economic development of the country while preserving its cultural heritage,” he said.

Senator Barau, who is the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, stressed that the continued survival of the Hausa language depends largely on its transmission from one generation to another, urging young people to take the lead in preserving, promoting and modernising the language.

He challenged Hausa youth in Ghana and across Africa to take pride in their heritage and channel it towards building a better future.

He urged them to pursue quality education, acquire modern skills, embrace innovation, establish businesses, create opportunities for others and contribute positively to the communities in which they live.

In a significant gesture towards supporting education and the preservation of the Hausa language, Senator Barau awarded scholarships to two members of the Hausa community in Ghana to study Hausa Language at the undergraduate or postgraduate level in Nigerian universities.

He also extended warm greetings to the Government and people of the Republic of Ghana, reaffirming the importance of the enduring friendship and strong relations between Ghana and Nigeria.

By Correspondent

Visibly angry with the poor state of work at the construction site of the Benin-Asaba Express way on tuesday , Minister of works, Engineer David Umahi in company of the Edo state governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo lambasted the contractor handling the project when he visited the construction site.

The Minister who was apparently angry at the dilapidated Benin-Asaba Express way could not hide his feelings as he lambasted and lampooned the Concessionaire for a shoddy job executed on the road while thanking the governor of Edo state, Senator Monday Okpebholo for being able to pacify the people who are visibly enraged by the suffering caused by the shoddy construction work.

“Governor, we want to thank you. Without you, there would have been an outbreak of riots in this road because of the shoddy job the Concessionaire has done so far.

” I am very, very disappointed with this concessionaire. I am very, very disappointed, and I offer apologies. I take full responsibility for the misdeed, and for the destruction of public assets, by the Concessionaire

” I have the conditions of contract here with me. The Ministry of Work does not allow anybody to remove the asphalt or the road as the Concessionaire has done on this road. That is against the policy of the Ministry of Works.

I’ve been here with the governor of the state, and at that time, they started removing the asphalt. We frowned at it, and we begged them not to remove the asphalt but yet they did.

” But you should have been arrested for the destruction of public assets. It has nothing to do with concessioning law or anything. And I’m directing all controllers to arrest any contractor or concessionaire that removes asphalt on our route. This road was not like this before we handed it over to you. It was not like this.

” And what jargon are you speaking? You are speaking unintelligently. Telling us about, the traffic build up.

” Did you not see the road very well before you decided to take the contract? You ran through every way to manipulate the process, and you got the job. Now you are complaining because you lack technical competence. You have no knowledge of road construction.

” You don’t know what you are doing. You have no technical competence. You have no technical staff. And now you have brought untold hardship on the people

” A competent contractor would have known what to do.

The Minister equally blamed the government for failure to verify the competence of the contractor before awarding such strategic gateway

“And it’s also the fault of the government because when you are doing concessioning, you have to find out about the technical competence of the so-called concessionaire. You have to find out where the concessionaire had done job before but this was not the case.

The Minister quarried the Concessionaire’s claim of competence and reputation

“You are talking about reputation and integrity. Where else have you done work before , you are learning how to do construction on a federal road.

The Minister however apologized to the Ikpoba Hill residents, the entire people of Edo state and every motorist and all road users for the hardship caused by the Concessionaire explaining that actions would be expedited to remedy the damages done by the Concessionaire describing the action of the contractor as
” provocation at the highest level.

The governor of Edo state, Senator Monday Okpebholo appealed for calm saying that the government would expedite actions to remedy the situation in no distant time.

Also speaking during the road inspection, the chairman of Ikpoba Hill Youths Forum, Comrade Kingsley Osemwingie told the minister that the dilapidated nature of the road is tarnishing the image of the governor of Edo state whom he described as a working governor

Mr Samuel Daramola.
the CEO of the concessionaire handling the Benin- Asaba Expressway who was visibly shaken and embarrassed by the company’s inability to fix the road but rather has tendered it worse off than he met it could not offer any reasonable explanation on his failure and why he excavated the existing asphalt from the long stretch of the road leaving it bare for the rain to completely wash of the road rendering it totally unusable, blamed the heavy traffic flow and torrential downpour for the failure. He however apologized to the people of Edo state adding that he would expedite actions on the repair process to “bring the dividends of democracy closer to the doorstep of the people”

“I will deliver the dividend of democracy to everybody. Even though the road is built completely 100% with private sector money, we are committed to ensuring that this road is concluded in record time, he concluded

A member of the PPP Engineer Izunobi Ebere, ascribed the failure of the road project to lack of working equipment and competence on the part of the Concessionaire.

” This project was handed over to the concessionaire in March 2025
with a mandate to go ahead and expand the road and modernise the road. But the challenges we have with the concessionaire is that they don’t have proper traffic management. When they started the work, there were no signs on the road to tell people where to go, the diversion, and how to do the work in zones, batches.
Now we told them, to put signages on several locations. We visited there more than four times and they have not been able to do that. Another challenge we have with them is the methodology of their work. The methodology of their work is not correct. They are supposed to put the drains well to direct the water out before they start working on the pavement. But they work on the pavement without drainage, thereby causing water to enter and spoil the road.

“Another challenge they have is that they excavate the road and leave it open, a road that has consolidated over 20 years, you leave it open, the underlying layers will enter water. They remove the existing asphalt and expose the underlying layers to water elements. That caused the road to dredge more and is part of the main reason why you are adding gridlocks. They were not able to cover it up and that has been a big challenge. Another thing is all we have done to give them instructions, they do not abide. and as such their work progress is very slow.

“This job is supposed to be completed in 36 months. That is three years. They have done 16 months and they have done only up to 10% of the project. That shows that they are really slow and there is doubt whether they can complete it in record time and this is what is causing all the suffering for the commuters and we do not want it to continue.