Coastal Road: ‘I’m a local champion; you’re a pretender’ — Gov. Diri replies to Duke

Bayelsa Governor Douye Diri called Donald Duke a “jester and pretender” after the former Cross River governor said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was unfeasible because of its cost and Bayelsa’s terrain. Duke had described Diri as a “local champion” in an interview on Arise Television. In a viral video, Diri embraced the label, saying he was elected to defend local people, and faulted Duke for doing nothing when Bakassi was ceded from Nigeria. Diri defended the development potential of coastal communities and thanked the president for backing the road project, which he said could address poverty and the dehumanising conditions faced by the region.