By: Odieh Ramon.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bayelsa State, has issued a scathing rebuke of the Bayelsa State government over the proposed ₦100billion proposed ongoing stadium project at Igbogene, Yenagoa Local Government Area.
The opposition party, in a statement by its publicity secretary, Ikaebimo Mark, said it was shocked that a state grappling with widespread hunger, unemployment, poverty, poor healthcare, weak educational outcomes, and a struggling economy commits over 100 billion naira to a stadium project at the expense of investments.
The party stated that while it recognizes the importance of sports development and agrees that sporting infrastructure has a place in the development of any modern society, it is not convinced that the stadium project is worth pursuing at the expense of several graduates without jobs and residents of Bayelsa who cannot afford one meal a day and lack access to clean potable water.
The opposition party also criticised the state government for investing such huge funds in a stadium while the agriculture sector has been starved of funds and several small businesses are collapsing under harsh economic conditions.
It further dismissed the justification for the construction of the stadium by Senator Diri as a form of empowerment for the youth, stressing that youth empowerment involves improving the living conditions of the youths of the state.
‘’The PDP believes that the greatest infrastructure any government can build is the economic well-being of its people. Youth empowerment is not measured by the size of a stadium but by the number of young people gainfully employed, the number of thriving small businesses, the number of skilled entrepreneurs created, the volume of investments attracted, and the opportunities available for young people to build productive and prosperous lives.’’
The PDP lamented the neglect of the existing Samson Siasia Stadium, which has served Bayelsa for years, raising serious questions about the government’s claim that sports is its principal vehicle for youth empowerment.
It challenged the Diri government to make public the number of youths it had empowered for the past six years through sports and the full details of the project funding for the stadium.
The statement reads in part ‘’If sports truly constitute the government’s strategy for empowering young people, why has the state’s flagship stadium not been transformed into a vibrant hub for talent discovery, sports tourism, grassroots development, and sports-based enterprise. We challenge the administration to make public, full disclosure of names and particulars of Bayelsa Youths his administration has empowered in the last six years, using the Sampson Siasia stadium in Yenagoa.
‘’Bayelsans deserve to know the economic justification for multiple stadium projects at a time when the state urgently requires industrial parks, agro-processing centres, technology hubs, vocational training institutes, manufacturing clusters, and investment corridors capable of generating sustainable employment and wealth.
‘’The PDP therefore calls on the Bayelsa State Government to immediately publish the full details of the stadium project, including its procurement process, contract value, funding arrangements, project scope, implementation timeline, and expected economic returns. Bayelsans deserve complete transparency regarding a project of such enormous financial magnitude.’’
The party urged the Diri-led administration to immediately declare a State Economic Recovery, Wealth Creation, Employment Generation, and Food Security Initiative to confront the worsening hardship across the state.
It implored the government to rise up to its responsibility and invest in industries, agriculture, skills development, innovation, entrepreneurship, and private-sector growth if it truly desires to empower the youth.
