Otu harps on continuity as Diri’s fifth anniversary begins 

Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State has stressed the need for continuity in governance while commissioning Road 24 in Yenagoa as part of activities marking Governor Douye Diri’s five years in office.

Commissioning the 1.475-kilometer-long road on Monday, Otu, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum, commended Diri for completing projects initiated by his predecessor, Senator Seriake Dickson.

He said, “The essence of governance is continuity. We did have abandoned projects littered everywhere, and another regime came and abandoned the projects that were started by their predecessors and moved to some other new projects.

“But, here we are, what was started by the predecessor is being put to completion by himself. Gov Diri, I want to thank you.”

Otu said that completing inherited projects is crucial for development and praised Diri for prioritising the completion of existing projects rather than abandoning them for new ones.

According to him, “Infrastructure is the fulcrum of development. If there are no roads, of course, the people can’t move for commercial activities whatsoever: no value addition to government taxes.”

Also, as part of the programme for Monday, there was a medical outreach at the Ikarama Cottage Hospital in Okordia Clan, Yenagoa Local Government Area, to establish a robust and resilient healthcare system that ensures equitable access to quality medical services for residents in line with the ASSURED Agenda.

Diri disclosed that the outreach programme “provided free medical consultations, minor surgical interventions, screenings, health education and preventive services to vulnerable populations with a particular focus on maternal and child health.”

He stated that the facility would not only serve Bayelsa State but also benefit residents of some communities in neighbouring Rivers State, particularly Joinkarama 1, 2, 3, 4, and Mbiama.

The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Seiyefa Brisibe, said medical staff were deployed across all the communities in Okordia Clan, saying that while minor surgeries were being successfully conducted at the facility, complex cases would be referred to designated healthcare centres.

Brisibe stressed that “access to food supplements and healthcare is a fundamental right” and urged Bayelsa residents to take full advantage of the opportunity of the medical outreach.