Timi Alaibe is described by many of his friends as a man with an insatiable appetite for knowledge; some describe him as “an omnivorous reader”, ready to devour any book that would add to his knowledge. Timi Alaibe private study is filled with biographical books. As he reads, he draws inspiration. He studies leadership qualities of great men and crisis management with enthusiastic passion.



There is no doubt that Isaac Adaka Boro, the iconic figure of the Ijaw people, left an indelible mark in the history of his people, but very few come closer to Boro in the mind of Ijaw people and one of them is Timi Alaibe. Correspondent, Bamidele Ogunwusi, writes on the special place Timi Alaibe occupies in the mind of the Ijaw people.


“Where the choice is given for me to choose between the interest and objectives of Timi Alaibe and the interest and objectives of the state, I always choose the interest of the state. And this has a background. It has to do with my life and my upbringing.

“My life is a representation of a quintessential local village boy, who decided from inception to devote his professional competence, intellectual equipage and knack for hard work to the service of his people. That is the driving force that has guided some of the things I do. Timi Alaibe: My career has been shaped as such. It is a resolute and inborn determination to make life better for those around me and for the community.

“What about a situation where you lose a life, like I did lost my wife and best friend and heartthrob, my most loyal half? So you begin to wonder what the objectives of some people are when they go breaking their necks to achieve a certain aim. One of the saddest moments of my life, beyond losing my wife, was when my house was bombed, also in pursuance of people wanting to have one thing, people were killed because of a campaign. These are the low points of my life. It hurts me so much. There was no need for that”.

That was Timi Alaibe, former Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and former Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs in an interview with Daily Independent.

Marking half a century on the surface of the earth is a significant feat. That is why it is called the golden age. It is more golden if the man in question has contributed to the development of his people as Alaibe has done.

His tenure in the NDDC has been described by many as the “Golden Age” of the commission considering the landmark development that was witnessed in Kolokuma/Opokuma in particular, and the Niger Delta Region in general.

NDDC was established in 2000 with the mission to facilitate the rapid and sustainable development of the Niger Delta region into a region that is economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative and politically peaceful.

The mandate includes, among others, formulation of policies and guidelines for the development of the Niger Delta area; conception, planning and implementation, in accordance with set rules and regulations, of projects and programmes for sustainable development of the Niger Delta area in the field of transportation including roads, jetties and waterways, health, employment, industrialization, agriculture and fisheries, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity and telecommunications.

It also includes surveying the Niger Delta in order to ascertain measures necessary to promote its physical and socio-economic development; preparing master plans and schemes designed to promote the physical development of the region and the estimation of the member states of the commission, as well as implementation of the measures approved for the development of the Niger Delta region by the Federal Government and the states of the commission.

The commission is also to identify factors inhibiting the development of the Niger Delta region and assist the member states in the formulation and implementation of policies to ensure sound and efficient management of the resources of the region; while also assessing and reporting on any project being funded or carried out in the region by oil and gas companies and any other company, including non-governmental organisations, as well as ensuring that funds released for such projects are properly utilized.

The commission is also expected to tackle ecological and environmental problems that arise from the exploration of oil mineral in the Niger Delta region and advising the Federal Government and the member states on the prevention and control of oil spillages, gas flaring and environmental pollution and also to liaise with the various oil mineral and gas prospecting and producing companies on all matters of pollution, prevention and control.

Timi Alaibe will receive loads of encomiums from his people not just for attaining the golden age but also for his enormous contributions to society.

Timi Alaibe The former managing director of NNDC is a force to reckon with, especially in the Niger Delta region, where he is still a magnetic rallying point, particularly among the youth.

He was raised in Ajegunle, a densely populated suburb of Lagos, which locals prefer to call ‘Jungle City’. He was born in Warri, Delta State, into a family with lowly beginnings from an Ijaw village called Igbainwari in Opokuma, the capital of Kolokuma Opokuma Local Government Area Bayelsa State.

Timi Alaibe Also Known as “Ajegunle Boy” is so many things to so many people. He is Timi, the swimmer, the financial expert, the accountant, the politician, the administrator and the philanthropist. He wields a lot of influence, as he remains one of the most celebrated Bayelsans.

Aside being a man of many parts, Timi Alaibe is described by many of his friends as a man with an insatiable appetite for knowledge; some describe him as “an omnivorous reader”, ready to devour any book that would add to his knowledge. His private study is filled with biographical books. As he reads, he draws inspiration. He studies leadership qualities of great men and crisis management with enthusiastic passion.

“He believes life without a challenge can only be found in a mortuary. Most times, he surrounds himself with people of intellect. He feels good in their company because he loves intellectual discourse”, says one of his associates, who preferred not to be named.

Mr. Preye Ogriki, Managing Director of Yenogoa-based Transatlantic Mortgages, who hails from Sagbama, described Timi Alaibe as a shiny star that should not be allowed to dim considering his contributions to the growth, development and peace currently being experienced in the Niger Delta.

Ogriki said: “Anything I say about him is not personal to me; it is what people in this part of the country and beyond say about him. I have not gained anything from him, but I believe that people who make sacrifices in the interest of their community or state should be honored while still alive. It is rear to see a man like him or a politician like him; he puts people and national interest beyond and above his own personal interest. We are all living witnesses to what happened in 2003 and 2007 when he was asked to step down from contesting for the Governorship of Bayelsa State. When he was disqualified in 2012 election in questionable manner, a typical politician would have gone to court, but Timi Alaibe chooses to be with the people.

“He surrendered his ambition then in the interest of the people. He is a man who believes that sacrificing for the people is an act of service to the people. How many leaders in the country now are ready to sacrifice for the people? Timi Alaibe is a man that must be given an opportunity to serve at the national level so that what he did in Niger Delta should be done to Nigerians as a whole.

“When Timi Alaibe was at the NDDC, he was a household name all over the country. I recently asked two people, who is currently Managing Director of NDDC and they could not give me the correct answer, but when Timi Alaibe was there, his name was everywhere; the whole country knew somebody was there. While I wish him happy birthday, I will be happy to see him in a bigger capacity in a not too distant future.” General Stanley Diriyai, a recipient of Commander of Order of Niger (CON), described Timi Alaibe as a worthy son of Niger Delta, who takes everybody as important and creates time for people no matter their relationship to him.

“He is like a son to me. He says I am his father. He knows the reasons why he has accepted me as his father but he is a worthy son, a worthy father, worthy brother and a worthy friend. Any person, who relates with him at any level, will take him as he wants. As a worthy son, he reasons and listens to advice of parents. He has love for elderly people, very kind and generous to them and he helps as much as a son should take care of his parents.

“When I say a worthy father, his children adore him and he treats them as a father is supposed to treat his children. When I say a worthy brother, he takes care of his brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews and any persons that he can help for guardian, support and for training. And when I say a worthy friend, it is when you see those who are his friends that you will know that he is a worthy friend.

“When you visit him, he has no special seat in his dining table that he seats, he seats with everybody. That is who Timi Alaibe is. He is a young man I am proud to call my son. He is not an angel because angels live with God; he is not a saint because saints live in the spirit. He is a human being.

“His contributions to Niger Delta, if I want to enumerate them, I may not be able to do it complete it in two days. I will take my community for example because I am not able to travel to the whole of Niger Delta to see all the things he has done. There is a shore protection and reclamation of land project going on in Kaiama, which he started. Why I am mentioning that is for various reasons. Kaiama is one of the earliest centers of education and Christianity in the Ijaw area. Christianity came to Kaiama in 1892, so also education. There is East-West Bridge that passes through Kaiama; there are projects that were abandoned for a very long time

”I am particular about shore protection and reclamation that he did because erosion had taken almost half of the town before the project. It is the reclamation and shore protection that is now bringing the town back to what it was before. So, Kaiama has not gotten a new land and new life because of the reclamation that is initiated. Today, Kaiama is also in the National grid because of his effort. We now enjoy electricity in Kaiama. I am talking about my town because I have seen what he has done there. I have also seen what he did in Okporosa

”There are very many NDDC roads that he did in Rivers, Bayelsa State, Akwa Ibom State, Delta State and other states in the Niger Delta. If you take the amnesty programme for instance, the efforts he made paved the way for peace we now have in the country. There is peace in the Niger Delta and everybody knows this and Timi Alaibe was instrumental to this. The oil production during the militancy period was low but with peace now in the Niger Delta, oil production has gone up”.

Highlighting his achievements in road construction, Ekpein Appah, a resident of Kaiama, Bayelsa State, who was also Timi Alaibe’s former teacher and later his Special Adviser when he was Managing Director of NDDC said “In Bayelsa State alone, we have, among others, the following roads to his credit: East/West – Odi – Trofani Road; East/West – Sagbama – Tungbo – Bolou Orua – Ebedebiri – Ekeremor – Agge thruway to the Atlantic Ocean, which is ongoing; East/West (Kaiama) – Opokuma – Sabagreia – Polaku link Road; Ogbia – Nembe Road; internal road network in Sabagreia; Sampou-Agbere-Odoni road to link the Owerri/Onitsha expressway”.

After finishing from Government Secondary, Kaiama, in 1979, Timi Alaibe trained as an accountant at the University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt.

He later attended the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, where he obtained a master’s degree in business administration.

Timi Alaibe cut his teeth as an accountant at Peat Marwick Ani Ogunde and Co (now KPMG) where he served as trainee accountant. In 1986, he joined African Continental Bank as head of operations and rose to become branch manager at Okrika branch, Rivers State, before leaving for AllStates Trust Bank as assistant manager in charge of risk management and credit control in 1991.

A year later, he served as vice president of Cosmopolitan Bancshares, a top-tier finance and investment company. In 1994 Timi Alaibe joined Societe Generale Bank as manager, Corporate Banking Division. He became senior manager and subsequently change champion of the bank’s re-positioning project, in 1996; assistant general manager in 1998; and general manager, Corporate and Investment Banking, in 2000.

Within this period, Timi Alaibe attended financial and management courses in Ivy League institutions across the world.

Today, he is a member of the Oxford Association of Management; member, Cambridge Association of Managers; member, Certified Institute of Management, member, Institute of Certified Public Accountants, among others. In 1996, he attended the Accelerated Credit Risk Programme at the Euromoney Training Centre, Surrey, United Kingdom, and in 1998, he was at the Senior Bankers Course at Manchester Business School, United Kingdom.

Source

http://www.dailyindependentnig.com/2012/06/alaibe-and-economic-development-of-niger-delta-2/