Obasanjo, Jonathan, Osinbajo, Atiku, Obi, Govs Bid Diri’s Father Farewell

Olusegun Osahon in Yenagoa

Many prominent Nigerian leaders yesterday bid farewell to Pa Abraham Joseph Michael Diri, father of the Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, at Sampou community in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of the state.
The dignitaries include former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan; Jonathan’s wife, Dame Patience; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and his wife, Dolapo; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.

The governors at the funeral service were: Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta State), Senator Ademola Adeleke (Osun State), Godwin Obaseki (Edo State) and his wife, Betty; Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom), Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Darius Ishiaku (Taraba).

The governors-elect of Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Taraba, and Niger states were also present.
Obasanjo, in his goodwill message delivered by Vice President Osinbajo, described Pa Diri as an exemplary teacher, a Lay Reader, and a community leader, who gave his children a proper upbringing.

“We are here to celebrate the life and times of Pa Diri. The array of personalities here is an indication that Pa Diri brought up and nurtured the aspirations of so many children,” Obasanjo explained.
The former Nigerian leader noted that the late Diri’s reward as a teacher came not just through his son, Senator Diri, but through so many notable Nigerians who came to Sampou to celebrate a humble teacher.
“He could not have imagined that an array of personalities would come here to honour him. According to the book of Proverbs 14:23, ‘In all labour, there is profit.”

Former President Jonathan, in his remarks, said he was with the bereaved Diri family in appreciating Obasanjo, Osinbajo, and all those who came to celebrate and honour the family and the people of the state.
He recalled that Pa Diri passed on a day when the present administration in the state was marking its third anniversary and prayed to God to strengthen Diri and his family.

On his part, Atiku who was the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general election, said: “There is a special relationship between me and the people of Bayelsa State. l am with you as a family and that is why l am physically here.”

The PDP presidential candidate noted that he attended the funeral ceremonies of former governor of the state, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha in Amassoma, former Governor Seriake Dickson’s mother at Toru-Orua and that of Diri’s father.
Responding, Senator Diri said he and his family as well as the entire state were humbled by the large turnout of high-profile dignitaries in his community to bid his father farewell.

“We are indeed overwhelmed. There can be no love more than that. I would not have thought even in the wildest of my imaginations that there would be a large number of high-profile Nigerians here to celebrate my father.”

Diri, who described his father as a disciplinarian, noted that he impacted positively on all who crossed his path and they all shared his positive attributes.
Other dignitaries who graced the event were: One-time Bayelsa State’s military administrator, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (rtd); wife of a former governor of the state, Mrs. Margaret Alamieyeseigha; Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company and Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor; Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig. Gen. Barry Ndiomu (rtd); Senators Uche Ekwunife and Ben Murray-Bruce, as well as the PDP governorship candidate in Kogi State, Senator Dino Melaye.

The Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo; his wife, Beatrice; Speaker of the House of Assembly, Abraham Ingobere; other state and national lawmakers; the state Acting Chief Judge, Justice Matilda Ayemieye; President, Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Daniel Ayah; Justices of the state high court; commissioners and other top government functionaries, business mogul, High Chief Victor Egukawhore; captains of industry; traditional rulers as well as clerics, were also present.