Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has said his government remains committed to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations (UN) to enhance the people’s living condition.

Diri, who gave the assurance when he visited the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Dr. Amina Mohammed, at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States of America, said the collaboration with the global body would fast-track development in education, health, youth, and women empowerment as well as food production and environment.

In a statement by his Director, New Media, Diri congratulated Mohammed for rising to the enviable position and for her great work at the UN.

He said the collaboration would enhance the prosperity agenda of his government, insisting that the government was building critical infrastructure that would provide great opportunities to open up Bayelsa State for more investments in different sectors.

On the unabated environmental pollution and degradation, Diri, said the ongoing clean-up in Ogoni land by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) should be extended to the entire oil-rich Niger Delta and that Bayelsa State was worst affected by oil spills with attendant devastated ecology and health issues.

In a related development, the newly appointed Minister of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA), Obong Umana Umana, has indicated his resolve to be result-oriented and impactful within the short time he would be spending in the ministry.

He made this assertion at his reception ceremony in Abuja. Umana said: “Though the time is short, we can hit the ground running by making the necessary impact, we’ll be driven by results”.

While stating that it is time to work to achieve the ministry’s target in line with its mandate, he requested the staff to be at their best to ensure that a remarkable difference is made in the lives of Nigerians, especially people in the Niger Delta Region.

Also, the Permanent Secretary, MNDA, Olufunso Olusesan Adebiyi, an engineer, assured the minister of the ministry’s unalloyed commitment to work as a team in ensuring that his target and set objectives are achieved.

Adebiyi said: “If you are to achieve your set objectives and looking for people who will cooperate with you in this regards, I present them to you. I am not sure you will have a better team like this anywhere else”.
Diri commended Mohammed for what she did in Ogoni when she was the Minister of Environment.

In her response, Mohammed appreciated the pace of development in Bayelsa State since its creation in 1996, and said UN was ready to deepen the existing relationship with the state to support ongoing development efforts by the current administration.

On the governor’s entourage were Nigerian Consul-General in the New York, Ambassador Lot Egopija; member representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Dr. Fred Agbedi; Permanent Secretary, Bayelsa State Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investments, Patience Ranami Abah and Major Lancelot Anyanya (rtd.).