From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Tammy Danagogo, has disclosed that the state was prepared to make this year’s independence day celebration memorable.
Danagogo stated this when he briefed journalists shortly after inspecting Shark’s Stadium, venue for the event in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
“You can see officers ready for the parade; everybody involved, from the military officers, the Commissioner of Police is personally here. The simple reason is to ensure that we are good to go. And you can see that we are actually good to go. This year, we are hoping to, as usual, produce a superlative performance, give Rivers people a resounding independence celebration.
“The only thing that will be different from what we should have done is that because of COVID-19 there are certain restrictions that would be in place. You can see, because of COVID-19, school children, who usually should be part of this event, are not participating because we don’t want to allow primary and secondary school children to come out. Children will not come because of COVID-19. It is part of COVID-19 recommendations or protocols.
“You are aware that they said the Delta variant is spreading round the world and everybody needs to be careful. Rivers State government is always listening to the advice of medical personnel and NCDC on COVID-19 protocols. But the police will make it a worthwhile experience for us.The COVID-19 restrictions would be the only restriction in place. Besides that, it would be a superlative independence celebration. We are set.”
The Rivers SSG said the state government had commenced activities to mark the October 1 independence day celebration with Jumat and church service.
“The Jumat service was well attended. On Sunday, the governor led all of us to church to thank God for the independence day.”