By Samuel Oyadongha

YENAGOA—BAYELSA State Governor, Mr Seriake Dickson,  yesterday, said that governors of the South South  were committed to working with the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF,  to promote and protect the interests of the region.

Dickson, who is the chairman of  South South  Governors Forum, SSGF, gave the assurance at the third General Assembly of PANDEF in Yenagoa, with the theme, “Appraisal of 16-Point Agenda: State of the Nation and the Way Forward for A Sustainable Peace and Development in the Niger Delta Region.”

The governor, who said that  peace and stability were paramount in the development of the Niger Delta, stressed the need for the leaders of the region to work collectively to change the long perceived notion of insecurity in the region and promote the socio-economic and political viability of the region.

Reminding the Federal Government that the militarisation of the Niger Delta was not a solution to resolving the issues, he however, said that the only battle to be fought was lack of economic inclusion and environmental terrorism in the region.

*File photo Gov Seriake Dickson

Dickson said, “There are parts of this country that are very happy to promote crisis and spread propaganda about insecurity in our region as a deliberate strategy of weakening this region economically.

“So, I want to use this opportunity to charge our people-political, opinion and community leaders to continue to work for a stable and prosperous Niger Delta because in the end, whether we are able to bring prosperity and development to our people depends on the presence of security and stability.

“I want to also use this opportunity to make the point again that militarization of any community within any state in our region is not a solution.  And in this Niger Delta, the battles to be fought are not the ones that tanks and soldiers should be deployed,  the battles all of us should unite to confront and defeat in the Niger Delta, are the issues of environmental terrorism as I have always called it and the issues of gross neglect, under-development and lack of economic inclusion.”