Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson has come out to say that he'll be leaving very huge shoes for his successor after 8 years of developing the state.
He disclosed this briefly after commissioning the Bayelsa Golf Course at the Tourism Island in Yenagoa.
According to him, his government has done better than succeeding administrations by making huge sacrifices and sanctioning mega investments in the interest of the state.
He added that he has laid a solid foundation for governments still to come.
His words, “The Restoration Government under my leadership has laid a solid foundation for any patriotic leadership to further the developmental aspirations of our state,”
“This is the first time we're having a golf course, so when some governors who have everything built for them by Federal Government and by the whole country, over hundred years, talk, they don’t seem to understand what we're struggling to do here.
“Today we've just commissioned a golf course started by us and then we're commissioning it. And of course, if you look at the order side you’ll see the polo club, again, started by us.
“We came up with the idea, did the planning and then awarded the contract and the supervision and battling to fund it.
“So these are the long term programmes that we've worked out to deliver and I’m happy that this golf course today has been commissioned.
“I’m happy also with the interest of the golfing community, not just in the state however, around the country and even outside.
“There are players across Africa who are here and my advice to the incoming government will be to nurture and support these dreams.
“These are not dreams that ordinary people can immediately relate to, however, If you have this kind of golf course, you have an airport, you have a polo club and which is why I've no difficulty in converting this place that was built as governor’s residence where I would have stayed for 8 years, into a hotel.
“Now you have a five-star hotel here and that’s why everything is integrated. I came prepared, you have the heliport there that can take 8 helicopters at the same time, the whole idea is for people to come to Bayelsa, land here, stay in hotels, invest in Bayelsa, enjoy Bayelsa.
“So I want to ask those coming behind, I've tried my best, if there are things they don’t understand, of course, I will be available to explain and advise.
“It is not ordinary when you see a governor converting a building he could have stayed with his family and turn it to a hotel, and that has been done.
“In Bayelsa, we're leading a deliberate development effort of a deprived underdeveloped area at a difficult financial period and I've tried my best despite that.
“So we expect that the new people coming in should brace up, there is plenty of work, it is not just cheap talk, not propaganda, not blackmail.
“Goverce and pushing ahead and sustaining this development and adding more improving in all sectors, health care, education, infrastructure, stability and law and order is a big job. So I can only wish Bayelsa the best.”