From Douglas Blessing
The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide has congratulated the Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri for piloting the success of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) victory in the Osun governorship election.
The IYC in a statement signed by its President, Peter Timothy Igbifa, said the victory had brought shame to the enemies of the Diri and the Ijaw nation within the PDP, who he said had earlier conspired to make the Bayelsa governor fail in his first national party assignment.
Igbifa said that the outcome of the Osun State governorship election is a testament of the capacity, commitment and loyalty of the Bayelsa Governor.
According to the IYC boss, Diri as the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Electoral Committee in Osun, proved that an Ijaw man could be trusted to deliver in a national assignment.
He said: “As a council, we noticed that some PDP leaders were not happy that an Ijaw man was appointed to handle the Osun electoral matters. They conspired against Governor Douye Diri to make him fail in his first national party assignment.
“They referred to him as an inexperienced politician and tried to demean and relegate him to the background. But man is not God. Diri triumphed as a miracle governor and delivered a resounding victory to his party”.
Igbifa observed that Diri undertook extra measures including resolving the internal crisis in the Osun PDP few days to the election to perfect his party’s success at the poll.
“We observed that our brother, Diri, went extra miles to perfect his party’s victory at the poll. The Bayelsa governor murdered sleep, held various meetings to reconcile warring stakeholders in his party. As a peacemaker, he demonstrated the dogged spirit Ijaws are known for to bring victory to his party”, he said.
The IYC boss called on all Ijaw stakeholders to always support their leaders and pray for them to succeed in their national assignments instead of joining enemies of Ijaw nations to pull them down.
He said: “We must unite to support our own especially when they are handling national assignments. We should resist the selfish inclinations to engage in pull down syndrome. We are glad that despite all obstacles placed on his way, governor Diri represented the Ijaw nation well and gave victory to his party”.
