Commercial, social and all forms of business activities were shut down in different parts of Bayelsa State yesterday, as the heroic state burial for the late former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, entered its second day.
Commercial institutions, government agencies and parastatals, especially in Yenagoa, the state capital, remained shut, as the state stood still in honour of the man, who was fondly referred to as the Governor-General of the Niger Delta.
At about 12noon, an ambulance conveying a shiny white casket bearing the remains of the late Ijaw icon touched down on the soil of Bayelsa.
The ambulance was accompanied by a convoy of vehicles of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, led by its President, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, who added colour to the solemn ceremony.
The youths, led by Eradiri, followed the ambulance from the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Rivers State, to Yenagoa.
The youths, who bore banners and emblems of the Ijaw struggle, sang and danced as the white casket, draped in an Ijaw flag and decorated with bouquets of flowers arrived the Executive Chambers of the Banquet Hall in Yenagoa.
The casket was taken to a podium at the center of the hall, where Governor Seriake Dickson held a valedictory session in the honour of the late Ijaw icon.
Though there was no lying-in-state ceremony for the late hero, his remains were expected to be taken to his expansive compound in his community in Amassoma, where a wake had been arranged before his final burial on Saturday.
In Amasoma, business and commercial activities were also completely shut down. Commercial motorcyclists and buses have been out of the road since Thursday.
The town was agog, as residents and students of the Niger Delta University (NDU), Alamieyeseigha’s major achievements, prepared to receive the remains of their hero.
The quiet town became boisterous with gridlock of vehicles in some roads in the community.
Jonathan, who narrated how the late Alamieyeseigha brought him to political limelight, said the late hero believed in the oneness of the Ijaw nation.
Referring to him as his boss, Jonathan said the man, famously called Alamco left the stage when the ovation was loudest.
The former president said the former governor would be missed by not only the Ijaw nation, but the entire Niger Delta.
Also, the leaders of the various levels of IYC, led by Eradiri, gathered at the Ijaw House to reflect on the ideals and virtues of the late Alamieyeseigha and seized the opportunity to take a collective position on national issues affecting the Ijaw nation.
Eradiri said that the council would henceforth organise public lecture every year to immortalise Alamieyeseigha.
He said the public lecture would centre on true federalism and resource control, which were some of the ideologies promoted by Alamieyeseigha.
Eradiri said: “We will be holding annual public lecture on true federalism and fiscal federalism as a mark of honour to immortalise Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
“Every year, on the date he died, we will organise annual public lecture to look at issues concerning resource control and true federalism.”
Eradiri also noted that Alamieyeseigha was a victim of political prosecution and victimization, adding that until his death, he was the unifying factor of the Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta.
“Alamieyeseigha was one governor who mobilised other governors. Today, there is no governor that has been able to mobilise other governors. He possessed incredible leadership qualities that will leave footprints in the sands of time.
“Alamieyeseigha was a man who traversed the entire Niger Delta and Nigeria, and he got a lot of traditional titles across the country. That alone showed that he was a detribalised Nigerian, a peace lover and a build builder.
“We are only trying to put up a smiling face so that we can give him a befitting burial for him to rest in peace. But we are not happy with the circumstances of his demise. He was the hero of resource control and we will continuously keep that flag flying.”
On Thursday night, tributes were heaped on late Ijaw leader by leading Ijaw leaders, including former President Goodluck Jonathan.
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