A former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, Udengs Eradiri, has called on the National Assembly and the Federal Government to address the imbalance in Bayelsa State’s local government areas. Eradiri emphasized that Bayelsa, with only eight local government areas, has been unfairly treated since its creation by General Sanni Abacha in 1996.
Eradiri pointed out that despite Bayelsa’s significant contributions to the country’s economy and its large landmass, it remains the only state with just eight local government areas. He argued that states like Lagos and those in the Southeast have more local government areas, despite having smaller landmasses.¹
The former Commissioner for Youths and Environment in Bayelsa urged the National Assembly, particularly the state’s caucus, to seize the opportunity presented by ongoing legislation to create additional states and increase Bayelsa’s local government areas. Eradiri appealed to Governor Douye Diri to constitute a team to push for this demand in the National Assembly.
Currently, Bayelsa’s eight local government areas are:
– *Brass*: with headquarters in Twon Brass
– *Ekeremor*: with headquarters in Ekeremor Town
– *Kolokuma/Opokuma*: with headquarters in Kaiama Town
– *Nembe*: with headquarters in Ogbolomabiri
– *Ogbia*: with headquarters in Ogbia Town
– *Sagbama*: with headquarters in Sagbama Town
– *Southern Ijaw*: with headquarters in Oporoma Town
– *Yenagoa*: with headquarters in Yenagoa City² ³
