Not a few know that Governor Timpre Sylva was one of the last men standing for late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua during his last battle to stay alive in the face of a grueling life threatening ailment. Sylva’s loyalty to his friend, whom he called brother, remains unflinching even unto death. For instance, Sylva it was who conceived the amnesty deals for militants of the Niger Delta which has brought some measure of tranquility to the region and Nigeria given the decreasing ratio of hostage taking and kidnapping.

But it has always been credited to the late President Yar’adua who to his credit listened to Sylva’s proposal and appreciated the concept and adopted it for execution as a Federal Government project. Easily, Sylva could have reared his ugly head to claim credit for the amnesty deal and he may pass unchallenged. But his sense of loyalty goes over and above his personal aggrandizement. Hence, he has never laid a claim to it.

Suffice to say while many agitated for the then Vice President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to take over in the absence of ailing President Yar’adua, Sylva focused more on giving support to the President and his family in their trouble time rather than play politics with the failing heath of Yar’adua as many did . That singular act was perceived by many as an indication of his opposition to any arrangement to make Jonathan take-over the reins of power.

Yet, some have traced this loyalty of Sylva to Yar’adua during his troubled days to Jonathan’s as responsible for his present travails, climaxing in a systematic poly to deny him an opportunity to seek a constitutionally recognized second term mandate as governor of the people and state of Bayelsa. But whereas you cannot put anything beyond politics and politicians especially in this clime, it still remains a tall order to prove that the President is on a vengeful mission to get his pound of flesh from Sylva. If anything, even President Jonathan is a man reputed to place a high premium on loyalty.

Remember how Jonathan as Deputy Governor to Diepriye Alameseigha stuck tenaciously to him even when the then President Olusegun Obasanjo offered him the governorship seat? Until the game was up for Alams, Jonathan never yielded to the allure of being Chief Executive of the state. Even during the last days of his boss, Yar’adua, he remained loyal and patient bidding his time.

Even now that Jonathan is President and Commander - In – Chief of the armed forces, he still remains loyal to the man to whom he deputized and eventually took over the reins of powers in Bayelsa from. That simply makes the two of them. So how can there be a sense in the suspicion that Jonathan is taking his pound of flesh out of his soul mate – Sylva, a man who shares the same lofty virtue that has become increasing rare among politicians?

That really beats one. But again, nothing can be put beyond politicians and their fragile ego. Moreso, that President Jonathan’s body language and innuendo on the debacle have all but suggested that he is the unseen hands manipulating the political and politrical machinery of the party – the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] to deny Governor Sylva a second bite of the cherry ala second term in office. The frenzied jostle for Jonathan’s endorsement by candidates seeking the governorship ticket, which Hon. Seriake Dickson got and caused him to win the Gubernatorial Election Primary conducted by the Peoples Democratic Party in its usual disregard to the subsisting suit filed by Governor Sylva, challenging the legitimacy of the planned primary did much to fuel the second school of thought.

However, a third school of thought concerned about the effect the imbroglio between Jonathan and Sylva will have on the PDP and Bayelsa prefer to call on the duo to sheath their sword and reconcile so as not to squander the party’s good will in the state. This school is worried that except the incumbent Governor whom it believes enjoys the privileges and trappings of incumbency is allowed to fly the party’s flag, PDP may likely lose control of the governorship seat of the state. It’s their view that since finality is not a word in politics, Jonathan and PDP must engage Sylva in a honourable compromise that will see him hoist the flag of the party at the February 2012.

It simply holds the view that an incumbent governor is always better placed than to fly the party’s flag than a new entrant given the peculiarities of Nigeria polity. Moreso that Sylva has remained loyal and steadfast to the party, a trait uncharacteristic of a Nigerian politician who confronted with same circumstance and Sylva would have jumped ship to another party to actualise his political ambition. Besides, PDP, up till this moment, has not been able to explain how a man who is governor under its platform and even won the primary election in January has suddenly become ineligible to contest under its platform.

It is imperative to observe that the numbers of those who have choose to fan the ember of hate between Sylva and Jonathan have done so on sheer lies and rumour mongering to the detriment of the party and the two unsuspecting brothers left with no moments to decipher what the real issues are. To be frank, these characters who perpetrate this misdemeanor to the detriment of good governance are the Senior Special Advisers, Special Advisers, Lawmakers, Party Chieftains, Local Government Chairmen, Councilors as well as thugs who have ears of the principal actors.

It is true that during that power-play of the transfer of the ticket, the public was made to believe that Sylva’s eventual nomination steered up some huge dust within the PDP fold.
It was further highlighted and made believed that by the governor’s nomination; the President glided over the standing friendship that existed between him and Chief Timi Aleibe’s vis-à-vis the latter’s desire to become the governor.

The accusers of the governor further advanced their course by embarking on campaigns aimed at discrediting him further as among non- performing governors. On this one, I beg to disagree because contrary to this wide held speculation, the governor has within the available resources converted the State to a huge construction site. It has obviously become an etiquette among the political class to continually pull themselves down, it is known in the political circle as ``Pull Him Down syndrome’’.

If not, why on earth would an insinuation be drawn accusing the governor of not supporting Jonathan during the call for the transfer of full Presidential power to him when Yar’Adua was deemed incapable to hang on in view of decades of agitation by the South-South region to be allowed to govern the country. It became even clearer to the public when these barrels of lies failed to achieve the evil intention that a more heinous one which captured the alleged plans by the governor to ‘kill’ the President was told. The sequence in which the lies were told against the serving governor placed him on a rather precariously defensive position; the governor has however, at several platforms vehemently denied them.

Yet, he was not the only one between the two parties placed with the burden to discharge the plethora of allegations. The Office of the President of the Federal Republic is, no doubt, the highest office in the land; the implication of this is that Jonathan is the leader of the Country; this includes being the national leader of his party. So the question of whom the leader of the party in Bayelsa is, which formed part of the contention should never have arisen. The President must eschew bitterness, if he harbours any against Sylva, and extend a Presidential pardon to him in any areas he might have erred in the overall interest of the PDP and Bayelsa state.

After all, it is divinely instructive to remember that ``to err is human, to forgive is divine’