Former President Goodluck Jonathan has lamented the trend among governors who discontinue projects initiated by their predecessors, describing it as a major source of waste in governance across Nigeria.
Jonathan stated this on Wednesday while commissioning the Best Western Plus Hotel in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
He lamented that several projects he initiated while serving as governor of Bayelsa before becoming Vice President in 2007 were abandoned by subsequent 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.
The ex-President also said his administration approved contracts for the construction of a five-star Tower Hotel and two three-star hotels to improve accommodation and tourism in the state.
According to him, the completion of those projects would have positioned Yenagoa as a key destination for investors and visitors, if the weren’t abandoned.
