Alamieyeseigha meant well for Ijaw, South-South –Jonathan

 

FROM FEMI FOLARANMI, YENAGOA

Former President Dr. Good­luck Jonathan on Friday lamented the death of first civilian governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Solomon Pe­ter Alamieyeseigha, noting that he had lost an elder brother.

Dr. Jonathan who was Alamieye­seigha’s deputy between 1999 and 2005 said, their relationship was not that of a governor and a deputy but, that of an elder brother and a younger brother.

Jonathan who spoke in an emo­tion-laden voice when he paid a condolence visit to the Alamieye­seigha family at their residence in Opolo,Yenagoa, on Friday, disclosed that his relationship with Alamieye­seigha preceded 1999

He said, “It is sad. I directly worked as a deputy governor to Ala­mieyeseigha. I knew Alamieyeseigha during the UNCP days when we were working for him. I never knew I was going to be his deputy because that was not my interest then. From that time, the political evolution in the country and the state brought me to work with him. And from 1999, we have been together. He always took me as his younger brother. Our re­lationship was not that of a gover­nor and a deputy but it was that of a younger brother and an elder broth­er”.

Jonathan was accompanied by Governor Seriake Dickson, his deputy, John Jonah, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Edmund Allison-Oguru and other officials of government and elder statesmen.

Alamieyeseigha’s widow, Marga­ret, broke down in tears and wept un­controllably as Jonathan walked into the cosy sitting room in the palatial residence with those on his entou­rage.

Jonathan, who admitted that, “it was only God that stopped tears from rolling down my cheeks” when he saw her wailing, said he considers the Alamieyeseigha as his family.

Jonathan noted that without the Alamieyeseigha family nobody would have known him in the world.

He stated that Alamieyeseigha’s demise was a rude shock not only to his immediate family but to Bayel­sans and the Ijaw nation.

Jonathan eulogised Alamieyesei­gha, stressing that he was a coura­geous man who had a good heart for Bayelsa, Ijaw land and the South- South region.

“Alamieyeseigha meant well for Bayelsa. He stood very firmly for the Ijaw people. Alamieyeseigha wanted to advance the South- South. He is somebody we had collective love for,” he said.

Jonathan encouraged Mrs. Alami­eyeseigha, members of the nuclear family and his admirers not to cry anymore because God was in control.

Source: sunnewsonline