A Non Governmental Organization “Niger Delta Media Activists Group and Excellent Leadership Foundation says former Bayelsa Governor Timipre Sylva is a champion of human capacity development in the Niger Delta region adding that the pioneer Pro Chancellor of Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko remains a beacon of hope for the Nigerian Youths as he turns sixty years today, the seventh day of July, 2024.
In a congratulatory statement made available to Journalists by the National Coordinator of the group Chief Izzi Yakiah in Yenagoa, the group notes that Sylva whose rise in Nigerian politics began in 1992 when he won a seat in the Old Rivers State House of Assembly to represent Brass Constituency has demonstrated dedication to serving humanity and has initiated policies that relatively brought peace and stability to the Niger region at the heat of agitations for resource control.
The Statement recalls that Timipre Sylva role in the establishment of the Presidential Amnesty Programme in 2009 through late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua could be likened to a patriotic commitment that have paved way for self development of Niger Delta youths in various fields of endeavours.
Chief Yakiah, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress also eulogized Timipre Sylva contributions to the development of Bayelsa State when he served as Governor between 2007 to January, 2012.
He mentioned the elaborate infrastructure roadmap of Timipre Sylva that executed the clearing and land reclamation of Bayelsa Business District, construction of fifty two internal links roads within Yenagoa metropolis, building and furnishing the multi billion naira Glory Land Castle, completion of Azikoro phase two, initiated and completed Onuebum – Otuoke road, Yenagoa Gateway road phase one .
Other infrastructural projects by the Timipre Sylva administration include, building and equipping of the Bayelsa State Library, building of the Yenagoa Tower Hotel and International Conference Centre from second floor to eighteen floor among others.
The release also praises Chief Timipre Sylva for his wide electrification of communities and distribution of stable electricity power to boost small scale businesses and scholarship offered to Bayelsa indigenous students to study engineering and Medicine in Russia and other countries are testament that Sylva records of human capacity developments in the homogenous state have not been replicated by successive Governments in the last thirteen years.
The Niger Delta Media Activists Group further observed that the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 16, 2021, to become the Petroleum Industry Act (2021) and the initiation and launching of the Decade of Gas Initiative in 2020 and the National Gas Expansion Program (NGEP), which is aimed at improving domestic LPG consumption and deepening the use of alternative fuels such as CNG for vehicular use are testimony of Timipre Sylva’s hard work to a new Nigeria.
Other achievements of the Former Minister also includes the harmonized data reporting to Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and provision of comprehensive technical support for Nigeria’s representation at OPEC and ensuring that the Federal Government took the Final Investment Decision (FID) that led to the development of the $7bn NLNG Train 7 project and championing Africa’s position for a multi-dimensional approach to energy transition using gas as a transition fuel.
Timipre Sylva also championed the removal of fuel subsidy so that the proceeds could be channeled towards National development.
