Diri urges media to be at alert as watchdog of accountability deficit

Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, who was Special Keynote Speaker at the 5th Yearly Lecture organised by Freedom Online publication at the Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, urged the media in Nigeria to be at alert as the watchdog of accountability deficit in governance.

Governor Diri, represented by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, in his Keynote Speech on the lecture topic: “2023 -2027: Nigerians, Elected Leaders and Expectations”, declared: “modern media as watchdog of the society reacts to accountability deficit. The media constitute the driving forces, empower, enforce, connect individuals in a democracy.”

The governor maintained: “in democracy, society cannot progress higher than the level of the press.”
Governor Diri declared that “we have not been able to make progress as a nation because of the absence of corporate vision for Nigeria.”

The governor pointed out that Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states are preparing for off season governorship elections, saying that candidates of the various political parties need the media platforms to market their programmes.
The governor said that he has provided transformational leadership that reascends personal interest to the people of Bayelsa State in his first tenure.

He cautioned that political leaders should not use party supporters as thugs, or drug induced stakeholders during campaigns.
The governor talking on Nigerian democratic project in the next four years, asserted that the media will continue to make elected leaders accountable to the voters.

Governor Diri noted some adverse effects of oil exploration, the major source of revenue to the Nigerian government, in the Niger Delta. He stated that the agricultural ecosystem of Bayelsa has been damaged, adding that gas flaring increases pollution and makes it difficult to clean up oil spills, adding that those who collaborate with some locals to carry out illegal oil deals, deny the state of the needed tax.

The Governor, therefore, declared: “existential threat is real in Bayelsa. Care should be taken to protect the environment of Nigeria Delta.”

The governor subsequently highlighted numerous achievements of his administration.