As the funeral rites for the late former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, begins on Thursday (today), in Yenegoa, the government has promised that he will be given a solemn but heroic state burial.
A former Commissioner for Information, who now heads the Publicity Sub-Committee of the burial committee, Esueme Dan-Kikile, said Alamieyeseigha, would get a state burial befitting of a hero of Ijaw nation.
He said Alamieyeseigha would not be buried at the Ijaw Heroes Park like the late Gen. Owoeye Azazi and Isaac Adaka Boro.
Nevertheless, Dan-Kikile noted that Governor Seriake Dickson had put in place all things within his powers to accord the first civilian governor of the state a befitting burial beginning from Thursday.
He said, “It is not that government will not be happy to bury him there (Ijaw Heroes Park) but we are also taking into consideration the interest of the family and the community.
“It was in the course of this that the state governor set up the burial committee to be headed by the Deputy Governor of the state, John Jonah, to oversee preparation, planning and logistics for the state burial of Alamieyeseigha.
“We have been working and since November 2015, we are expecting a befitting burial, a wonderful crowd at all the venues that activities will take place.
“We are not only having the burial alone, we are also going to have some intellectual activities. We are having a lecture on ‘Federalism and developments in Nigeria’, to be delivered by Prof. G.G Darah, who is one of the finest scholars from this part of the country.
“There is also a night of tributes and we are expecting dignitaries from all over the country who will come and pay their last respects to him in comments, speeches, songs, poems, poetry and many others.”
He said the state government had made sure that all necessary logistics were put in place to have a successful burial, stressing that the burial was not just for the Bayelsa Government but for all Nigerians.
He said Alamieyeseigha meant so much to Bayelsans, noting that he was a leader of both the leaders and the commoners.
He extolled the virtues of Alamieyeseigha, who during his heyday, was described as the Governor-General of the Ijaw nation, saying that Alamieyeseigha was passionate about Bayelsa, the Ijaw nation and Nigeria.
He added, “He had his own human failings but he was undoubtedly committed to the development of this part of the country, particularly the Niger Delta region.
“He stood for those things that are in accord to the development of the region and so the state government is not only putting in place the best thing in place to make sure he gets a befitting burial but also a successful one.”
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