It was saint Ignatius who penned, “In the light of the Divine Goodness, it seems to me, though others may think differently, that ingratitude is the most abominable of sins and that it should be detested in the sight of our Creator and Lord by all of His creatures who are capable of enjoying His divine and everlasting glory.”

Most people return small favours, acknowledge medium ones, and repay greater ones – with ingratitude and I am tempted to think that one of those people is governor Douye Diri. It seems to me that governor Diri has forgotten so soon how by divine providence, God used Senator Henry Seriake Dickson to get him to where he is today.

As a political commentator and critical stakeholder in our dear state Bayelsa, I have observed with utter consternation how the miracle governor as he is fondly called by his supporters and admirers has tried to belittle and undermine his predecessor, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson. It is safe to say that ‘It serves the former governor right’ for imposing governor Douye Diri on us. Many of us warned and even begged the former governor to be circumspect in the choice of his successor but he was too blinded by Diri’s fake loyalty and pretentious posture that he failed to critically see beyond the facade of deceit and treachery that is governor Douye Diri.

People betray loyalty and allegiance switches but I do not expect the governor to go so quick against a man who believed so much in him by appointing him as his Deputy Chief of Staff, Principal Secretary, sent him to the House of Representatives, Senate and against all odds, made him governor through the divine grace of God in 2019.

From all observations, one thing the former Governor has done well is to distance himself from the government and stayed away from even the state, so no one can claim unlike other states and godfathers that, Senator Dickson is influencing governor Diri. That kind of story can not fly again in Bayelsa state.

It is clear that Governor Diri is on his own and must take responsibility for his actions and decisions.

Many of our party men and women in Bayelsa today are aggrieved because the governor has refused to carry them along and instead of rewarding loyal party men and women who stood by the mandate that was almost stolen by the APC, what they get in return are betrayal and neglect. Governor Diri is more concerned with rewarding opposition members who insult him morning till night than rewarding loyal party members.


Why is Diri’s led prosperity government bent on dividing the party for no reason? What does he want to achieve by creating an internal crisis within the party? Why go on an unnecessary proxy battle with former governor Dickson who obviously is not interested in anyone who becomes what in the next State and National legislative elections?

Governor Douye Diri needs to have a deep retrospection and rethink this needless enmity that he’s creating amongst his supporters and that of former Governor Dickson’s supporters. What our state needs now is a unity of purpose and not the divisive politics that Diri and his men are playing for the past 2 years. On several occasions, the former governor has consistently said that, governor Diri is the leader of the party and that every one of us must support him to succeed.

What exactly is Diri’s problem? Is it a deep-seated inferiority complex? Is it paranoia? Or is it guilt? Well, the Bible says guilty runneth when no one pursueth. The governor needs to stop fighting his shadows. Many party leaders and stakeholders he has sidelined are patiently waiting to see how he will defeat APC with a weakened PDP.

Ordinarily, as we head into the 2023 general elections, the most logical and sensible thing to do as a party is to scout for the best and most competent men and women with the capacity to win elections amongst the aspirants but alas, the governor is doing things independently without consulting key stakeholders.

Governor Diri has surrounded himself with APC members and has been dining and wining with politicians that were against his nomination and candidacy in 2019. APC has taken over Bayelsa PDP and the PDP led government because of Diri’s unholy alliance with them while those who fought for his ambition are now tagged Dickson boys and have been sidelined by the Diri administration. The leaders of PDP at the grassroots are angry and they feel very alienated.

Governor Diri is the only politician in this world who throws away those who supported and fought for him in an election and replaces them with those who opposed him. He keeps calling and begging APC leaders with different offers and gives them juicy contracts while PDP leaders have no access to him. We know he was making plans to decamp to APC, a plan he later shelved when he saw that nobody was fighting him and when he thought former President Jonathan would decamp to APC.

He started his Government and planned with Timipre Sylva and other leaders of the APC to go to the APC from day one. Maybe that would have freed PDP leaders who believed in the party to keep their beliefs elsewhere since the governor elected on their platform does not believe in the party,

Bayelsans have seen through his deceitfulness and disloyalty. His modus operandi is to promote falsehood and he runs the state and the party with deceit. His brand of politics has taught Bayelsans that it does not pay to be loyal.

He’s in charge, working with the opposition and anyone abusing the former administration of which he is a part. He has chosen a destructive path in building a political structure for himself in a state where he does not have a single person.
APC members are happy about this development and have found a haven in Diri’s administration claiming that they will eat until it is time for elections when they will go back to their party;

No one is fighting him but his lies, deceit and lack of character have divided the government, the party and the state.

Diri’s lack of character and capacity shows everywhere. In his family, his three wives are publicly competing for space with no one to call them to order.

In his administration, his younger brother, a so-called youth governor, a school dropout named Doubara Kumoku, and Sylva’s most trusted aide, an APC stalwart is now a director of special duties under Diri are now in charge of hand picking candidates for the upcoming PDP primaries in Bayelsa.

These characters have a group called 4+4 and are using that to deceive Governor Diri that he has a political structure and support in the party.

There is also the Deputy chief of staff the so-called pastor Mr Akpe and then the Governor’s herbalist friend an igbo man from Anambra state called Africa, who is an okija shrine priest. These are the defacto Governors of Bayelsa State. They decide what happens in government and the Governor merely follows.

They designed a program of sidelining every other PDP member and bringing APC elements into the Government. They are entitled to that. the only problem is that they are killing the party and the sooner they realize this and stop, the better.

The opposition party is laughing and happy about the developments and if Diri is not called to order early enough, the PDP will most certainly perform poorly in all elections and especially the governorship as everyone has seen his treachery, his betrayal and deceit and will not want to take risks for the party. A stitch in time saves nine.

Finally, I will end this opinion piece with an excerpt from Things Fall Apart by the late Chinua Achebe which says; “Those whose palm kernels were cracked by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble”.

Mr. Ebi Jamaica is a Public Affairs analyst and he writes from Yenagoa, Bayelsa state

Ezedon:
I don't understand

RichDad1:
Bayelsa has got to be one of the most unfortunate States in Nigeria.
A very small state with the least population and still get huge allocations monthly with nothing to show for it.
I can remember the last time I’ve read about a project commission from the state.
To make matter worse, a former President is from this same state
They’ve got a Governor
3 senators
MHR

MHA
Council chairmen and lots more.
And someone from this state will join others to protest in lagos against bad governance.

Mummytoo:
Diri is trying abeg leave the man alone

Carry pdp along indeed
Every time APC , PDP
We all are one, stop tagging people

Una go carry party go heaven

DitariDisciple2:



Illiteracy is a curse.
Bayelsa is bigger than 10 Nigerian states and far bigger than IMO and Anambra states put together.
That your false population figure why haven't you used it and organize Nigeria.

RichDad1:

Did I say the smallest state by landmass? Is comprehension a problem for you ? How many LG does Bayelsa state has compare to other states ?
And for your information, Bayelsa is the smallest state by population.
Shame and hypocrisy will not let you hold your leaders responsible. It’s always Tinubu, el Rufai and Buhari that’s your enemy.

DitariDisciple2:


Its marginalization.
LGA were not created evenly.