By Samuel Oyadongha

Yenagoa – Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State has called on Nigerians not to be despondent but look forward to a brighter country this year.

The governor, in his New Year message, acknowledged that Nigerians had challenges in the past year, both in the state and in some parts of the country, urged the citizens to look forward to a brighter country, where peace, prosperity and security would reign.

He said: “Let us hope for an end to the senseless sectarian conflicts that can only degrade our humanity and push us further down the abyss of poverty and underdevelopment, when we ought to be marching ahead with the rest of the world.”

On the successes recorded by his administration in the past year, the governor said,  “we have done a lot in the areas of health, education, agriculture, power, commerce and industry.

“What remains is for us to tie up all these into a coordinative whole that would usher in the modern state of our dream, so that the work of this administration in the past four years will be manifest. The work of coordination and consolidation will be our focus in the New Year.”

Speaking on the political situation in the state, Sylva explained that since last year was the eve of election,  “it is only natural, there were disagreements in the process of agreeing on who should lead us.”

He lamented that  “some players took the political bickering too far, often jettisoning decency and the rule of law. In so doing, they created tension and anxiety in the polity.”