A governorship candidate in Bayelsa, Chief Timipre Sylva, has urged Bayelsa people and Nigerians to see the New Year as a new start in their individual and collective quests for development.
He made the call in a New Year message issued by his Media Adviser, Mr Doifie Buokoribo, in Yenagoa on Friday.
The candidate, who called for improved peaceful coexistence among the people in the New Year and beyond, also urged the people to eschew divisive tendencies.
Sylva wished the people of Bayelsa a prosperous new year, noting that “as we welcome the New Year this Friday, we should embrace new hopes, new opportunities and new vistas it has for us as Bayelsans and Nigerians to stand out and fulfill our personal and collective destinies.
“Let us sincerely rededicate ourselves to the hopes and expectations of our founding fathers and steadfastly endeavour to uplift the welfare, peace and security of our people. We have a perfect opportunity to reboot and rebuild.
“We have come a long way as a state and as a country; we have crossed the bridges over many rivers and it has pleased mother nature to keep us together, despite our fault lines.
“So, it behoves on us to focus on issues that will sustain and strengthen our togetherness, rather than those that will destroy it.
“I wish our state and country great success and prosperity. May the peace of the Almighty God reign in our land throughout 2016 and beyond.’’