Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa on Friday praised late military dictator Sani Abacha for his “courage” in creating the state on October 1, 1996.

“We salute the courage of the late General Sani Abacha, who proclaimed the creation of the only homogenous Ijaw state on this same day in the year of our Lord 1996,” Mr Diri during Bayelsa’s 25th anniversary celebration on Friday.

“I also extend special appreciation to our heroes and founding fathers, whose remarkable acts of courage and heroism will forever be etched in our hearts and history,” Mr Diri thanked his predecessors.

In a statewide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 61st and Bayelsa’s 25th anniversary, the governor said developments in the South-south state had “witnessed remarkable progress”.

While calling on all sons and daughters of Bayelsa to close ranks and support his administration to move the state forward, Mr Diri stressed that there was no other state they could call theirs.

“We must all avoid acts that could pull the state backward. We have achieved a lot, especially in the area of education, with many higher institutions that are producing quality graduates.

“We have constructed and dualised several roads linking seven local government areas in addition to being connected to the national grid.

“We also have a functional airport where commercial flight operations commenced on August 19, 2021,” Mr Diri said.

He appreciated the late Abacha for creating a homogenous Ijaw state, saying, “We are monolithic and should not sabotage ourselves. We have nowhere else to call our homes.”

(NAN)