The government of Bayelsa State has announced its approval of a state-owned flag, coat of arms and anthem law, a decision it says is in line with the vision of its founding fathers.
It equally described the decision as a reflection of its stand on Ijaw mobilization, Ijaw integration and the need to promote Ijaw fundamental interest, “which clearly is not subordinate to any other interests.”
After the emblems were approved at the end of the 7th meeting of the state’s executive council held on Monday 6th August, the state announced that the flag, state anthem and coat of arms will reflect the colours and symbols of the Ijaw nation and will be put to use as soon as Governor Seriake Dickson accents to the corresponding law passed by the state’s House of Assembly.
“This decision also underscores government’s belief that this state, like any other state, is where the Ijaws, the fourth largest ethnic nationality, has as its home. Bayelsa is home to all Ijaws both at home and abroad,” Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the chief press secretary to the state, said in a statement.
“The emblem, therefore, will help serve as a unifying force and rallying point for all our people. It says a lot about the preservation of our culture, our essential values as a people and as a race. These are the qualities that distinguish us and make us who we are: proud, great people of the Ijaw Nation, irrepressible in spirit, a people that are second to none in this country.”
Iworiso-Markson went on to explain that the step is not in any way different from what other states in the federation have done in the past, saying “It is common knowledge that virtually all the states in the southwestern region such as Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ogun and Ekiti State have since launched theirs. The most recent was the north central state of Kwara.
“In the South-South, Cross River and Rivers State are the only two states in the region that have embraced this noble concept. In the case of Rivers, it was done since the 1970s.
“We believe that Bayelsa State, being the only state that can be considered as the home state of the Ijaw race, deserves even much more to blaze this trail than any other state in the federation, given its uniqueness. This much is true because of the emphasis we place on the propagation of the Ijaw ideals and what we stand for as a people, the Ijaw ideology.”
He further described the launch of the emblem as critical to the state’s development matching its drive to project it as a world-class tourist destination, the new frontier for eco-tourism and an investment haven.
Bayelsa is one of the country’s newest states, having been created in 1996 out of the old Rivers State.
