The last may not have been heard about the political battle in Bayelsa State. The state governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, in the last few weeks has been under intense pressure over the rumoured plot to unseat him as the governor of the state and the series of attacks over alleged lull in the economy of the state. In this interview, Governor Dickson bares his mind to newsmen on plots to unseat him and the recent attacks on the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.AKAM JAMES was there. Excerpts:

February 14 will make it your third year in office. It seems you are uneasy. Can you identify the challenges you have faced and how you are facing up to them?
I have been in political service for quite some time and I had been exposed to service for our people even before I ventured into partisan politics. At no time did I believe that being the governor of Bayelsa State was going to be a bed of roses. The cynicism of much of the Bayelsa public, the negative mindset and the passion for believing negative rumours and blackmail, and the way false propaganda spreads in this state. Some of these things I had a fair idea of but I didn’t know the extent and you won’t even know until you are a governor.
When we came in, the revenue situation was not as bad, it was far better during the days of my predecessor at least towards the end of his tenure but then I didn’t also imagine that some time down the line, we will be managing deductions from our monthly revenue such that as at today, what we presently receive is about 40%, even going to less than 40% of what we received when I started.
When I came in and I looked at my programmes and the available funds, I thought I had funds to embark on these ambitious programmes in every sector but I didn’t imagine that about a year down the line, funds will dry up. The political challenges are always there, even challenges you didn’t expect will come from every quarter. Again one thing I have discovered is that unlike other states, our people are used to pulling somebody down, to imagining negative things, stories and even saying negative things. We don’t know much about how to support somebody to succeed; it is as if in leading the state to the next level, they don’t have any role to play.
When you look at the way they behave; even leaders, elected officials, and the way they take governance as if it is the responsibility of only one man, the governor, it is simply amazing. If you are in the National Assembly you don’t owe any obligation to anybody, to your state and even that much to your constituency. If you are a Minister you just stay far away and do your job, in whatever office. Even within the state our attitude is to stay far from the problem and then worse still, throw bricks at the governor and the government. We do not have the intention of sharing the vision and supporting anyone who is steering the ship of state.
We don’t have that shared vision of service delivery, it is the responsibility of only one man. I am not just talking about people outside the government that is the attitude from people within. They are the same people who earn the salaries, the same people through whom jobs are executed month after month; contractors are paid through them, they know the true state of the finances and then when they go out either they don’t relate with their people and just concentrate on themselves and families and think of how many cars to buy and houses to build and they portray the government inadvertently or sometimes even deliberately in that type of negative light, whereas in other places where even salaries are lower, appointees are fewer, government bills are far less, people have shared vision.
Unfortunately, the people themselves because of a combination of poverty, illiteracy and underdevelopment over the years have almost lost their ability to identify people who mean well for them such as what we are doing and so they stay disconnected; We are busy building roads, schools, and funding education for their children, but they don’t value all of that; they value much more when someone comes may be at Christmas, and buys rice, shares to them and gives N5,000 to them; then they are happy. They forget all that you are doing to develop the state and all of that.
With what we have been able to put on ground there are governors who will beat their chest if they do what we have done in eight years and their people will appreciate what is going on. But here, everything you do comes down to how much you have given to somebody. But I know that a lot of well-meaning people appreciate what we are doing and I want to thank them for their support.

This is the season of politics all over the country and Bayelsa is no exception. What is the government doing to ensure the delivery of free, fair and credible election in Baylesa State?
This state has less political challenges. We are far more stable politically than many other states around because of our mature tolerance and approach to handling political issues. Secondly, the political calendar is such that the governorship election is not coming up right now and sometimes that is why we wonder why some people have started getting unduly excited. After all there is no governorship election or nominations right now to take place in this state. All those who mean well for this state should be rallying round me as leader of the PDP, the President’s party, to solidify the home-base and then mobilise support for the President.
But unfortunately, you are aware of the deliberate acts of distraction that are going on. But as I said we are not distracted, we are committed to doing what is right and proper. I am a tolerant politician and a democrat. I have always believed in the fact that people should be encouraged to exercise their franchise freely and that has been demonstrated in so many ways unlike the situation that existed before we came. You know what happened when in 2011 the CPC Presidential candidate now APC Presidential candidate visited Bayelsa. You know what the government at that time did and how that rally was disrupted. In contrast you saw the steps my government took to ensure their safety and guaranteed their right under the laws and constitution and thus peacefully had their political rally. Any other outcome would not have sent out the right message to Nigeria from the President's home state. You can see what is going on in other states which we condemn but you can imagine what would have happened if there had been some violence right here. They would have used what happened here as a justification.
Human memory is very short; they have forgotten their past experiences when people who disagreed with the powers-that-be then would not be allowed entry into Baylesa. You can see how people who disagree with us are operating freely in the state and my only requirement is that they should do so within the confines of the law because there is a difference between opposition politics and subversion and even treason.
I myself faced a commission of enquiry in this state; I faced warrant of arrest. For two years, I came into Bayelsa secretly because of the prevailing climate. But the environment we have created is such that everybody comes around. So we are committed as a government to support the fact that people should freely come out and cast their votes for candidates of their choice without intimidation and violence and we are working with the security agents to ensure that that happens.
I call on all those who have registered to please go and collect their PVC because that is your right and power; with that you can determine who becomes your leader at all levels, and for the population that they have recorded against us, I don’t think that represents our true voting strength but that is the number recorded against Bayelsa.
That is what I have been doing here not to talk of the ones that I do in Abuja, working with friends across the country to ensure that the President gets the support of Nigerians. But we in this state owe him all our votes if only you all freely exercise our mandate. And for those elements in the PDP who are playing primitive politics of being a card carrying member of one party or even being a stakeholder of one party and supporting candidates of another party, I call on you to urgently retrace your steps because that is anti-party, and that is not the way we do politics. I call on you to close ranks, support the candidates of your party.

When you came in you talked about turning Bayelsa into a mini-Dubai but with the fall in revenue accruing to the state do you still have that vision? Secondly, do you plan town hall meetings in the various local government areas to let the people understand your administration’s plans, policies, programmes and constraints?
There are many of my officials who are always out there explaining various aspects of our policies. We have several people who are doing that particularly those who are in the information team. I didn’t want deliberately to play politics too early because I knew that I have a very heavy mandate in terms of development. I came in with a vision to provide security, to bring about development and to spread prosperity. As the campaigns go on, I will also be going round with our candidates. That is the difference between my kind of politics and the politics of the old Bayelsa that most of these elements represent because they are still living in the old Baylesa where when you want to be a leader, you go arm some boys and then use them to intimidate and overawe your people. They don’t see anything wrong with that and there are a number of politicians who are so- called leaders, who belong to that school of violence.
Our vision of Bayelsa being the new Dubai is on course even in the light of the current financial realities. Everyone in Nigeria and indeed the world knows what is happening to the world economy and in the economies of countries like Nigeria that depend solely on crude oil sales. And for a state whose revenue depends wholly on derivation, I don’t need to tell you how affected we are. You now see why from beginning I talked about the need for diversification of our economy so that we don’t depend too much on this very volatile commodity called crude oil over which we don’t have any control over. But for some of our people, everything is free. Because you have a government that is called the government of Bayelsa State, it must be an ATM machine where people will just plug in their cards and they see the cash because they feel the government has plenty of money. So when you are hungry, it is the government. When your wife is sick, it is the government. When you cannot pay rent or your car breaks down, it is the government. The school fees that we’ve taken away from them, is not important to them. The scholarships and books that we are giving, are not an issue. We have just paid WAEC fees for all their children, and that amounts to hundreds of millions of naira. You have taken that burden from them but they don’t appreciate what you are doing for them because they are used to getting things free. And even the free things you give to them, they want to feel it.
The problem is that whereas you want the best, it seems to me and even a lot of people outside say that “it’s like Baylesa people don’t like anything good”. In this state, it is the non-indigenes that appreciate the changes that we are effecting but the Bayelsa people are more concerned about negative things.
Another major problem is that we have some elite in this state that don’t love this state. They hate anything progress taking place in the state. They just want to have plenty of money from the state government. So, you the people of this state should know that it is your future that we are piloting. So you should always support us, and don’t listen to negative propaganda. When people tell you “Oh there is hunger”, ask them what have you done?

What is happening to the issue of power in Bayelsa? What is happening to the turbine?
The gas turbine is a project that the state government is very much interested in. It is servicing a part of this state. We have invested money; a team has just arrived to fix it so very soon the turbine will be fully operational. Even before the turbine was refurbished and it came back those communities have been having light. The Ministry of Power worked round the clock to provide some electricity. The gas turbine has come and we want to upgrade it. Power is a critical area we are looking at because we have a lot of gas.

Efforts were made to reconcile aggrieved members of the PDP in the state after the conduct of primaries, what is the result of these efforts?
We came up with the reconciliation committee to talk to members who have one grievance or the other. Though the political challenges that arose out of the primaries are not as much as you have in other states we felt there was still need for reconciliation. In politics, you can’t have your way all the time.

People want interventions in the areas of internal roads, good drainage systems, potable water and housing. What is government doing in these areas?
When we came on board, we designed our master plan of the state along the lines of promoting security, development and prosperity. And because we wanted this place to be the new Dubai you can see the type of mega projects and they cost a lot of money. And most of these projects have a construction period of three years and some three and a half years; that is assuming we even have the funds because of the terrain and the technical requirements.
Now, in less than 2 years into the tenure, we have this massive economic slowdown that has affected and reduced our earnings to about 40%. So we are not in a position now to contemplate any new jobs.

How would you react to the recent threats issued by some groups threatening and warning the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, not to join her husband for the Presidential rally?
I have a policy of not discussing my boss’s wife. That is our mother, our sister and our wife and she is entitled to all courtesies and respect due her and i enjoin everybody to extend that to her. My office has issued a statement condemning the activities of these faceless persons who are said to have issued that type of mindless statement.
We are looking at it as a government and the security agencies are also doing so and in no distant time those behind it will be unraveled. At a time when we should all be uniting to work for the President’s election, they have chosen to use this period to spread misinformation to divide a state that is united. It is very sad. I cannot be intimidated by anybody.

The minority groups from South-South and Middle Belt region met in Yenagoa last week, what would you say is the benefit of hosting the summit?
Over 200 Nigerian leaders from the so called minority groups from the South-South as well as minorities from the middle belt and the North were here, and they professed their support in the elections that will be coming up. For us, and being a product of Ijaw movement myself, i understand the need for us to build bridges of understanding between the various ethnic groups of this nation.
Nigeria is a nation of several nationalities and that is not a problem but that is the beauty and greatness of our country.
We have our friends and allies in this nation and these are some of the things that young upcoming politicians need to learn. This state embodies the hopes and aspirations of the Ijaw man. If Bayelsa gets it right, then the Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta and therefore Nigeria will be on track. Today, minorities and our allies are working for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan; tomorrow it will be our turn to work for any other.

www.dailytimes.com.ng/article/nobody-can-intimidate-me-dickson

Well said. Nobody should intimidate anyone to vote or support his/her candidate(s). Today, it's a Niger Deltan, tomorrow, it may be a northerner. We can overcome our challenges only if we work together as one in harmony.

God bless President GEJ. Politics should not be a do or die game. That we don't support one candidate should not make us enemy.