The Bayelsa government has called on its oil-bearing communities to always embrace peace and work with the state government in order to attract sustainable development to their areas.
Felix Bonny Ayah, Special Adviser to Governor Seriake Dickson on oil and gas, made the call in a chat with newsmen during a peace meeting in Yenagoa on Monday. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the peace meeting was brokered between Shell and Kolo Creek Cluster Development Board (CDB).
Acting Paramount Ruler of Otuasega Community, Claudius Enegesi, attended the meeting held at the Ministry of Mineral Resources in Yenagoa.
Ayah identified peace as the panacea to development in any society, saying that no meaningful development could thrive in an atmosphere of rancour and acrimony.
Ayah called on all aggrieved parties to always resort to dialogue to settle their differences because no battle is won using the barrel of gun.
Also speaking, Kenu Walson, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, who presided over the meeting, urged the parties to shift grounds and make concessions in the overall interest of all.
Earlier, Okpu Solomon, Chairman of the Kolo Creek CDB, advised the government to follow due process in resolving differences. He also charged the government to see the report of the dispute resolution committee as the only mechanism to resolve the impasse.
