Former President Goodluck Jonathan has publicly decried the persistent trend of project abandonment by successive administrations in Bayelsa State, citing the failure to complete key initiatives he began as governor as a major source of waste in governance.
Jonathan spoke on Wednesday at the inauguration of the Best Western Plus Hotel in Yenagoa, where he revealed that his administration had initiated several hotel projects to attract tourism and investment before he became Vice President in 2007. These projects, he lamented, were left unattended after he left office.
“When a governor leaves office, the next governor doesn’t want to follow up, and most of the money spent goes to waste,” Jonathan said, describing the pattern as a critical flaw in the state’s development cycle.
The former president recalled investing in the hospitality sector to make Yenagoa a more appealing destination for visitors, especially during the time the state hosted the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). He highlighted the initial challenges that prompted his actions.
“During the first AMAA event, most of the international guests stayed in Port Harcourt because Bayelsa had no suitable hotels,” he said. “So we supported local hoteliers with loans of N10m to N15m to upgrade their facilities, but after I left office, nobody refunded the money, and the initiative died.”
Beyond supporting local hoteliers, Jonathan’s government had also awarded contracts for the construction of three major hotels, including the Tower Hotel and two three-star facilities. None of these were completed by the administrations that followed.
“If they had done these three hotels, by now visitors coming to Bayelsa State would have had comfortable places to stay, but somehow when I left, even people I mobilised, we didn’t see what they have done,” he stated.
He concluded his lament by reiterating the core problem: “That is the problem of government, when a governor leaves, the next governor doesn’t want to follow up, most of those money spent will go.”
Against this backdrop of past failures, Jonathan commended the management of Best Western Plus for finally bringing a world-class hospitality brand to the state, fulfilling the vision he had for Bayelsa’s tourism industry.
In his remarks, the state Governor, Douye Diri, praised the hotel’s founder, Dr. Harcourt Adukeh, for his commitment to the state’s economic growth. Diri described the new hotel as a landmark development that would boost the hospitality sector, create jobs, and encourage more private investment. He urged other Bayelsans to emulate Adukeh by investing in their home state to drive sustainable development.
The launch of the Best Western Plus Hotel, an affiliate of the global brand, marks a significant step in Yenagoa’s emergence as a destination for tourism and investment in the Niger Delta, offering a stark contrast to the abandoned projects of the past that Jonathan recalled.
Discussion about this post