Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa on Sunday said that the virtue of love towards all practised by his mother, late Mrs. Rose Diri, shaped his political philosophy of no bitterness.
Diri disclosed this at Ayamasa, his maternal hometown in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state, during the eighth-year wreath-laying ceremony in honour of his mother.
Madam Diri was born on May 15, 1939 and died on her 74th birthday 74 on May 15, 2013.
The governor said his late mother was the perfect example of the woman and wife captured in Proverbs 31 in the Bible.
He described his late mother as a woman that accommodated everyone who came across her while alive and never had any enemy.
According to him, her lifestyle of living without enmity and grudge towards anyone impacted his own life greatly.
“My mother had no enemies. That is why as a governor, I do not have any enemy because I learnt that from her.
“She was a woman that I can aptly say was described in Proverbs 31. Our mother was a mother to everybody.
“From here in Ayamasa, she got married and moved with her husband to Sampou. Even in Sampou, she was mother to everybody. Those who came across her can testify that she took everybody who she saw as my friend like her own children.
“For those of us she left behind, the only thing I would say is to continue to emulate the standard she left for us.” Diri said.
The governor in his remarks further condemned politics of bitterness and blackmail.
He expressed the hope that his emergence as governor would change the narrative and heal political wounds in the state.
“Let us not pull anybody down. Those that have served have done very well and served meritoriously. Let us give them the honour. Those of us serving now should know that history would always be there to look back at our service.
“We should move away from abusing one other and name-calling to a friendly and brotherly disposition. A disposition of service to our people, service to Bayelsa people, the Ijaw nation and Nigeria at large.” he said.
