Osinbajo Resumes Peace Talks in N’Delta, to Meet Bayelsa Leaders Today

Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa
The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, will today continue the second leg of his tour of some Niger Delta states in search of peace, following the crisis that has recently plagued the oil-rich region.

During the visit, Osinbajo is expected to meet with political leaders and elders in Bayelsa State as well as traditional rulers and residents of coastal communities in the area.

THISDAY learnt that the acting president is also billed to hold an open interactive stakeholders’ session at the Diepreye Alamieyeseigha Memorial Banquet on his return from Odi community in Kolokuma/Opokuma local council and Ekeremor local government.
In preparation for the event, the Bayelsa State Government said yesterday that it had fully mobilised its people to give the Nigerian leader a rousing welcome.

While advising that the professor of law should be wary of politicians who might want to hijack the visit to make ‘cheap’ political points, the government in a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite, urged the acting president to use the opportunity to assess where federal government interventions are needed in the state.

“The Bayelsa State Government is looking forward to receiving Vice President Yemi Osinbajo when he visits the Glory of All Lands as part of his tour to some states in the Niger Delta region,” the statement noted.
It urged residents in the state to “come out en masse to welcome the nation’s number two citizen,” assuring the guest of the hospitality of people of the state.
“We urge him to use the occasion of his visit to experience same for himself,” the government said.

The Bayelsa government called on him to “access critical areas” of the state that need prompt intervention by the federal government, stating that Bayelsa is the epicentre of all the issues, as the home land of the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
“Also, the government wants the visiting VP to resist every attempt by some persons to use his visit to score cheap political points by advancing their selfish interest which is capable of truncating the commencement of a sustained peace process in the Niger Delta,” it noted.

Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Police Command has urged “well meaning” people of the state to maintain the peace during and after the Acting President’s visit.
“His Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will be visiting Bayelsa State on February 10, 2017.

“The Acting President will lead a high-level delegation of the federal government and will interact with traditional rulers, eminent Bayelsans and members of conflict resolution committees. The consultation and interactive session is scheduled to hold at the DSP Alamieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall, Government House, Yenagoa,” the police said.
A statement signed by the Police Commissioner in the state, Asuquo Amba, asked those who are not specially invited for the occasion to stay away.

“Attendance is strictly by invitation. The command therefore advises all law abiding citizens to go about their lawful and legitimate businesses, while gathering of persons not invited to the programme, at any point within the state will not be tolerated,” Amba warned.
However, the police added that they had put in place adequate security measures “to curtail activities of miscreants.”