The practice of governors abandoning projects started by their predecessors has been criticised by former President Goodluck Jonathan, who called it a significant source of waste in Nigerian governance.
Jonathan made this statement on Wednesday during the Best Western Plus Hotel’s commissioning in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
He bemoaned the fact that a number of initiatives he started as Bayelsa’s governor before taking office as vice president in 2007 were shelved by succeeding administrations.
“As a first elected deputy governor of Bayelsa State, the governor then, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, started hosting African Movie Awards ceremonies that people from America, South Africa and others were coming- actors and actresses.
“It was a world event: you know all these celebrities, they live a sort of fantastic life, and in the first edition hosted, most of the external guests stayed in Port Harcourt because there was no hotel that you could see in Bayelsa State.
“The idea of a state encouraging tourism is for tourists to spend their foreign money in the state to stimulate the local economy, so if the state is to spend on the programme that brings people all over the world and then the money will be spent in other states, that is a negative investment,” he said.
Jonathan noted that his administration had approved contracts for the construction of a five-star Tower Hotel and two three-star hotels to improve accommodation and tourism in the state.
He claims that if such projects had been finished, Yenagoa would have become a popular travel destination for tourists and investors.
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