Governor Douye Diri has called on the European Union to re-evaluate its approach to ensure its projects have a more noticeable impact in the Niger Delta region.

Mr Diri called on Thursday during a courtesy visit by the head of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital.

The governor said the EU had spent huge financial resources on development initiatives in the region over the years but noted that the communities barely felt the effect of such projects.

“It is amazing to note the amount of money the EU has committed to the development of the Niger Delta region, particularly in Bayelsa.

“Compared to the impact of such projects on communities, I believe the EU needs to look inwards.

“We do not know your processes, but I think the impact of such projects would be more seen in communities in Bayelsa and its neighbouring Rivers and Delta states if properly channelled. Likewise, if other development partners had toed the path of the EU, the ties would have been stronger,” he said.

On its new Global Gateway strategy, the Bayelsa governor said his administration would work closely with the EU to sustain the peace in the region and address developmental challenges.

Describing the EU as grassroots-oriented development partners, Mr Diri expressed the optimism that the leadership of Mr Mignot would add more value to the development of the region.

He commended the cordial relationship with Bayelsa, which resulted in robust discussions with the EU in Abuja about a year ago on peace-building efforts.

“Security in the Gulf of Guinea, youth engagement, technical and vocational education and marine and blue economy.

“There was a period of insecurity due to militancy in the Niger Delta, which was actually in response to the level of underdevelopment against the backdrop of the oil resources that had been taken from our state and region. This is the time not to engage in violence but in diplomacy. That is why we are ready to keep the peace in our state and region to sustain the development we are witnessing,” he said.

Gautier Mignot said the EU had supported many projects in Nigeria in the last decades. He said in 2021, the EU launched a new cooperation strategy called the Global Gateway, and the union was expected to leverage more investments in Nigeria, working in partnership with its 27 member states.

He stated that in 2023, the EU launched in Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta tailor-made projects with €6.5 million and implemented them through its partners, Search For Common Grounds.

Mr Mignot said about 5000 had benefited from the project, which was about peace-building, resilience, reduction in violence, criminality and livelihood, and that the visit was to assess the progress in 16 communities across the state’s eight local governments of Bayelsa.

In another development, at a state dinner held in honour of the delegation, Mr Diri conferred the state’s citizenship on the EU envoy.

He said, “Bayelsa is the cradle of the Ijaw nation and the epicentre of the Niger Delta. A visit to the Niger Delta without a visit to Bayelsa is incomplete.”

(NAN)