Duoye Diri lashes out at Buhari – Does FG expect me to carry Bayelsa on my head?

Bayelsa State governor, Duoye Diri, has lambasted the federal government over its poor response to the flood that has submerged the state under water in the past one month.

Diri answering questions on Arise News, The Morning Show, on Thursday said that no senior official of the Federal Government had reached out to commiserate with him and the people, while the state remained buried in water.

According to the governor, neither President Muhammadu Buhari nor Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had visited to sympathise with state and its people over the tragedy that had swept off some lives and continues to threaten many more.

“I have made calls; I have appealed and we have up until this moment not seen any senior official of the Federal Government to give us hope.

“I have officially communicated the level of disaster in Bayelsa to the President, foreign bodies and other federal agencies,” the governor said.

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Reacting to early warnings by the federal government to states in the flood-pronged areas to prepare for the pending disaster, Governor Diri wondered what the federal government expected him and the other states to do with meagre resources.

He queried rather rhetorically: “Federal Government warned, yes. I expected them to have called the states and proffer solutions on what should be done to mitigate the effect of the flood or at best find a permanent solution to the issue.

“What do they expect me to do with meagre resources? Should I carry the state on my head? How possible is it for me to build decks around Bayelsa? Should I build dams to check the flood?”

He flatly denied that the state had received any food material supplies from the Federal Government as assistance and neither had the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD), Sadiya Umar Farouq, had any contact with him, since the flood disaster.

The governor thanked all those who had donated and made pledges towards assisting Bayelsa residents affected by the flood, saying the state has received over N350 million in donations and pledges.