Elizabeth Vincent, Yenagoa
Celebrations took place over the weekend as Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, joined the Prosperity Youth Coalition (PYC) in a thanksgiving event at Perdis Hotel, Akenfa-Yenagoa.
This gathering followed a special service at the Refined Peoples Assembly, where Ewhrudjakpo expressed gratitude for the survival of PYC members involved in a serious accident during last year’s governorship campaign.
Ewhrudjakpo described their survival as a personal victory, attributing it to divine intervention amid accusations of election-related rituals against him.
He urged gratitude towards God and reassured supporters awaiting political appointments that the government recognizes their contributions and will implement sustainable measures for their benevolence.
In a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Deputy Governor, Mr Doubara Atasi, recalled that five members of the Prosperity Youth Coalition were involved in the accident on their way to Ekeremor to participate in the governorship campaigns of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last year.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, who was highly elated described the survival of all the victims of the accident as a personal victory, saying God proved his innocence and put his political opponents to shame.
According to the Deputy Governor, a lot of vile blackmails and speculations bordering on election related ritual killings were made against him in the aftermath of the accident just because the accident occurred in his native Ofoni Community in Sagbama Local Government Area of the state.
Emphasizing the need for people to fear and thank God for what He had already done, he attributed the success of Governor Douye Diri and himself in the November 2023 governorship election to God’s special grace upon their lives.
While appreciating the Prosperity Youth Coalition and other support groups for the various roles they played before, during and after the election, Senator Ewhrudjakpo urged those who are yet to get political appointments to be patient as government would come up with more beneficial measures to reciprocate their efforts.
His words: “I know that the Prosperity Youth Coalition have their own sentiments and emotions, which is that there is not enough political appointments for them yet.
“That you have not got appointment does not mean this government has forgotten the support you gave to us. No, we have not. But the truth is, not everyone will get appointment. But we will come up with something more sustainable and beneficial to you.
‘We must learn how to thank God for what He had done for us. For me, ingratitude is the grave in which greater blessings are buried. Some of us are not blessed not because God does not want to bless us but because we are not grateful.
“I’m happy today because we did not lose any person in our camp. Even those whom the other camp claimed had died and have been used for rituals by this Ofoni man are all alive here with us.
“There were a lot of stories about me because the accident occurred at Ofoni. But I’m happy because God did not allow my enemies to triumph over me in that election. What they wished should happen to us, happened in their own camp.”
Earlier in his remarks, the Director General, Prosperity Youth Coalition, Comrade Doubara Kumokou, explained that the event was put together to honour God for miraculously saving the lives of five members of the organization as well as mark the first anniversary of its existence.
Comrade Kumokou, who expressed gratitude to the Governor and his deputy
for identifying with the vision of the youth group, stressed that the victims would not have survived the fatal accident that occurred on 19th October 2023 without divine intervention.
In their separate solidarity messages, the Coordinator of Bayelsa Volunteers, High Chief Lucky Asanakpo, the Coordinator of Prosperity Youth Coalition, Southern Ijaw area, Mr Temple Dickson and the representative of the non-natives wing of PYC, Chief Chinedu Arthur-Ugwa, commended the development efforts of the Governor Diri-led Administration.
