Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) for the November 11 2023 Bayelsa State Governorship polls, Eng. Udengs Eradiri, has charged youths of the state to rise up against the old order by voting for him, saying that is the only way to save the state.
He noted that with determination and dedication to protect their future, youths would turn around the fortunes of the state in the forth-coming elections, by voting for a new order exemplified by his candidacy.
Eradiri stated this in Odioma Kingdom of the Brass Local Government Area of the state, home town of his running mate, Com. Benjamin Natus (rtd).
The Labour Party’s governorship hopeful alleged that the old order had failed to progressively drive the economic comparative advantages of the state for its development, noting also that coastal communities and ocean cities like Odioma held the key to unlock the resource potentials capable of birthing a new state.
“This is the richest place in Bayelsa. I’m not here to play politics with you people. Odioma Kingdom has a free trade zone status.
“Every developed nation of the world ensures that they idolize their ocean cities. We’re the only people that are joking with our ocean wealth.
“Odioma is the blue economy, so if somebody is playing politics with road to Odioma or to Brass, he doesn’t understand the issues.
“The road is a necessity to unlock the wealth for Bayelsa. The jobs for our young people are here. They don’t see it, but I’m here to talk to young people. It’s time to take leadership”, Eradiri said.
The candidate who also bared his mind to his people on his Education, Agriculture and Power (PEAP) agenda, hinted that he has carefully crafted his agenda to address all the developmetal challenges of the state.
“We have carefully looked at the issues that are affecting our state. There are no functional state hospitals in Bayelsa. Mothers send their children to schools that don’t have teachers, the security situation is bad and there’s no drinking water in any part of this state.
“In order for us to revive the people’s morale, we must ensure that there welfare is topmost on our agenda. Under our agenda, we’ll deal with healthcare, we’ll deal with new towns. We’re going to build Brass Atlantic City.
“As we’re doing the new Yenagoa Town, we’re doing the Brass Atlantic City. The purpose is that we need to quickly begin to move towards the ocean.
“We’re going to deal with flooding first in Yenagoa. The flooding that affects the main town does not affect this side but you have ocean crisis. We’re going to deal with it.
“Odioma is not difficult to do. You need government to pile the water front and dredge the excess sand on the water way, fill up the shores of the land. Those things are not difficult, Bayelsa has ecological funds, so there is money to deal with it”, he added.
Reeling out his plan on education and skills development, the Labour Party governorship candidate said, “There are no teachers in our primary schools. We’re going to employ teachers, train them, pay their arrears, promotions and all that.
“Again, we want to introduce skills development. If we upgrade our craft development centers, build new ones, we make a law in Bayelsa, two years after, if you don’t have certificate, you will not practice. That way a lot of our young people will have skills. We’re going to invest in skills development.
“We’ll invest in upgrading our educational facilities. It’s only in Bayelsa that school children are learning with chalk and black board. The world have moved, they teach children with electronic display and data.
“We’re going to ensure that we upgrade educational facilities. We’re going to introduce data technology education”.
He reiterated that if he was elected come November 11, his administration would revive the state’s economy with agriculture, adding also that the state must attain self-sufficiency in food production.
“There’s sugarcane in this place, starting from Nembe. Sugarcane is growing untamed in Bayelsa. We’ll produce sugar in this state.Dry Gin is produced from sugarcane.
“If I take leadership in this state, everything we eat, we’ll produce it here: pepper, onion, crayfish, eggs, vegetables, we’ll produce in Bayelsa.
“If you plant pepper, you can earn a living from pepper. When we come in, we want to build a food processing and storage facility for the Bayelsa Airport.
“The Bayelsa Airport is a cargo airport, but we’re not using it for that purpose, because they can’t turn that place to make money for the people.
“If you build a food processing and storage facility, all the crayfish, fish that you produce here, you can export from the airport. All you need is for government to know what to do. So with agriculture, we’re going to change the landscape of Bayelsa.
Eradiri, a former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), also said his Government would be centered on producing 24 hours light in Bayelsa, adding that with the gas in Odioma alone, the state could power a turbine to provide power for all the communities.
“We’ll use the gas to power an industrial area. Thank God we already have the Odioma free trade zone. There’re a lot of companies, all they’re looking for is cheap gas and you have the gas here in Odioma.
“If you go to South Africa, almost all the car companies in the world have their plants by the ocean, because when they produce the vehicles there, they can use the ocean to ship them out.
“So we will approach them and use this place as a free trade zone, as an incentive and also to produce cheap gas that can power their factories as well as lower there production.
“There is what they call CNG- Compressed Natural Gas. it’s in Odioma here. It is what people are using to drive cars now.
“They’re converting from petrol car engine to gas engine, CNG that you have here. We are going to start CNG plants. Our boats, they will convert them to use CNG instead of fuel.
“We are not telling you to come and vote and go home. It is time to change it, give us your support. I am ready for this job, I have the experience”, Eradiri restated.

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa