Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has
advocated a collaborative governance model to avert the threats from ocean rise
to communities in the state and the Niger Delta region.
Governor Diri, who spoke on Saturday at the Ocean Rise
and Coastal Resilience Summit preceding the United Nations Ocean Conference
(UNOC) in Nice, France, from June 9-13, called for collaboration among global,
national and sub-national stakeholders in order to save communities ravaged by
ocean surge and coastal erosion.
The Bayelsa governor said he was at the conference,
which is being co-hosted by the governments of France and Costa Rica, in
furtherance of his administration’s commitment to bring to global attention the
environmental challenges of his region, and particularly Bayelsa State.
In his presentation during the panel session themed:
“Multi-Level Governance of Coastal Cities and Regions,” Governor Diri
emphasised the primacy of collaboration among stakeholders if the challenges of
global warming, climate change and ocean rise would be adequately addressed.
He said Bayelsa communities face an ever-present
threat from rising sea levels and coastal erosion as a result of its
geographical location.
Diri stated that his administration had initiated
innovative policies to address some of the issues, including creating a
ministry.
His words: “As a coastal state, Bayelsa lies below the
sea level and consequently faces the risks associated with ocean rise. About 70
per cent of its land area is occupied by rivers and it borders the Atlantic
Ocean on its three senatorial flanks.
“Bayelsa is the first and the only sub-national in
Nigeria to create a Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in 2024 after President
Bola Tinubu’s pioneering initiative in 2023. We have done a lot of policy
innovation in the state in line with what the federal ministry has done.
“We are equally promoting mangrove restoration as a
state with a lot of mangroves, rivers and rivulets. As a state bordering the
Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf of Guinea, Bayelsa communities face the threat of
ocean rise and are either being destroyed or at the verge of being wiped out.
“I believe this is not the time to be looking at
competitiveness but rather on some form of multi-governmental approach to
address this challenge. This approach should look at collaborative and
synergistic governance at the national, sub-national and international levels
with all the stakeholders involved.”
The Bayelsa helmsman equally advocated for global
funding support for affected states and communities.
“We are very glad to be part of this process, which if
well coordinated would lead to sub-nationals like mine having access to climate
funds and other supports. So, we believe that there has to be more of
collaborative governance among stakeholders than the competitiveness we see.”
The well-attended summit, which had in attendance a
former United States Secretary of State and Special Envoy on Climate, Mr. John
Kerry, attracted other global stakeholders, scientists and policymakers in a
bid to address the challenges of rising sea levels, coastal erosion, climate
adaptation and sustainable development.
Also present at the session were the Governor of Akwa
Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno, and delegates from Lagos and Cross River states.
The Bayelsa governor was accompanied by Speaker of the
Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Abraham Ingobere, President of the Ijaw
National Congress (INC), Prof. Benjamin Okaba, and the Commissioner for Marine
and Blue Economy, Dr. Faith Zibs-Godwin.
Others were a director in the ministry, Mr. Wakedei Ere, and the Technical Adviser on International Development and Liaison, Mrs. Funkazi Koroye-Crooks.
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