June 21, (THEWILL)- The Bayelsa State Government on Sunday called on the people to emulate the patriotic lifestyle of the late Chief Francis Doukpola and other founding fathers to move their society to greater heights.
The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, made the call when he led a team of government officials to attend a special church service to honour the memory of Doukpola at Agbere in Sagbama Local Government Area.
Eulogising the departed Agbere-born politician and businessman, Senator Ewhrudjakpo described him as a great leader and servant of God who contributed immensely towards the creation of Bayelsa.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Doubara Atasi, the Deputy Governor acknowledged the unifying role Doukpola played in politics where he sacrificed his personal interest for the peace and development of the state.
According to him, Doukpola’s fatherly role in his lifetime, calmed frayed nerves during hot political contests, a quality, which he noted, was rare to find among politicians.
Recalling his experiences with the late elder statesman, particularly during his campaigns to become a Senator and subsequently as a Deputy Governor, Ewhrudjakpo noted that Doukpola was instrumental to his political success.
Ewhrudjakpo, therefore, promised to propagate the legacies of the late Chief to encourage others to identify with efforts targeted at building a better united and prosperous Bayelsa State.
He said: “While it is necessary to mourn the passage of Chief Doukpola, some of us are happy and thankful to God for the kind of life he lived. For me, I had a personal encounter and interactions with him.
“Chief Doukpola was a sacrificial leader. He remained contented so long as others were contented. I say this because if you studied the life of Chief Doukpola, throughout his political career he was not at any point in time demanding.
“He lived a life of contentment and contributed immensely to the creation of Bayelsa and building any party he belonged to. So long as the party was winning, and the interest of Ijaw land was at stake, anybody who gets it, he was contented.
“For the two or three times he contested election, where the odds were orchestrated against him, there is no evidence that he said the house should be destroyed. He remained and moved on because he felt that others were contented.
“When I was to run for the Senate, I had a lot of challenges. Some persons claimed I was no longer a Bayelsan; that a Tarakiri son has become an Urhobo man. And that an Urhobo man cannot be a Bayelsan.
“But Doukpola was among the few persons who came out to educate those who were ignorant. He joined me to everywhere, campaigning for me to become a Senator.
“He sacrificed so much for me even at the risk of his political haemorrhage. He did same when I was to be nominated Deputy Governor.
“These are the lessons to draw home today as we honour his memory. We must remember that there came a man from Agbere, Tarakiri clan, in Bayelsa State, who ensured that the contentment of others was his own contentment.”
Doukpola, who died at the age of 76 a year ago, was until his passing, the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Elders Council and the Secretary of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF.
Government officials who accompanied the Deputy Governor to the memorial service included: Dr Godbless Oyinke, Hon. Bernard Kenebai, Mrs. Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai and Hon. Ofoji Oboku.
Others included the state Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party, Mr. Gesiye Isowo, Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Dr. Ebieri Jones, Special Adviser to the Governor on Investment, Dr. Jonathan Obuebite and Chairman, Local Government Service Commission, Chief Lambert Ototo.
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