By: Amos Odhe.
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has called on African leaders to make concerted efforts aimed at building regional unity and integration among countries on the continent.
Governor Diri made the call during a courtesy visit by a delegation led by the Minister of State for Education of the Central African Republic, Mr. Auretien Simplice Zingas, in Government House, Yenagoa, on Monday.
Represented by the Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the Bayelsa Chief Executive stressed the need for African leaders to remove all existing barriers to free movement of people, goods and services to achieve sustainable development.
Governor Diri maintained that closer ties among African countries would enable them to harness their resources to make the continent a better place in terms of economic development and the overall well-being of its people.
According to him, Africa’s inability to bridge the divisive gaps created by the scrambling and partitioning of the continent by some foreign imperial forces has placed it at a disadvantaged position for the developed countries to expropriate its natural resources for their own development.
He said for the continent to move forward, its leaders must stop paying lip service to the issue of proper economic integration, noting that about 70 percent of the natural resources used in developing other parts of the world are sourced from Africa.
His words, “I believe that the Scrambling and Partitioning of Africa created imaginary walls that divided us, both in terms of development and sociocultural integration. I strongly believe that those walls should be broken down at this age and time.
“The Western countries, especially Europe, don’t have borders. So why will Africa continue to have borders? We believe that if we pull down the walls, there will be more integration for Africa and businesses will flourish.
“I can assure you that over 70 percent of natural resources used for industry and development wherever in the world are from Africa. So we believe that by the time we achieve integration, and work together, we will get a developed Africa.”
The Bayelsa Governor, who expressed delight at the minister’s visit to study the workings of Bayelsa PRIME, pointed out that education was the topmost priority of his administration, adding that more resources would be deployed to the sector to achieve greater success.
He emphasized the preparedness of Bayelsa State to partner the Central African Republic in key areas, and called on individuals and business organizations from Africa and other parts of the world to make portfolio investments in Bayelsa to achieve mutual benefits.
According to him:”Bayelsa is on a positive and good horizon. And that is why we are happy that people from outside are coming to learn from what we are doing here. We have just started and we are going to improve on it to make sure that Bayelsa becomes the Mecca of education and sports in Nigeria.
“We are not going to rest on our oars as a result of this success or victory we have achieved. I can assure you that the government would deploy more arsenal or resources to make sure that we make more improvement. We are happy that you are coming to learn from us. We believe that we are also going to learn from you.”
In his remarks, the Minister of State-Education, Central African Republic, Mr. Auretien Simplice Zingas, said the ministerial delegation was in the state to understudy the Bayelsa PRIME Project in view of the remarkable success made in the educational sector of the state.
Speaking through an interpreter, Mr. Zingas, appreciated the warm reception accorded him and his team by the state government, adding that they had already signed an agreement with New Global Education to replicate the Bayelsa Prime model in the education system of the Central African Republic.
