₦airaland Forum

A former Governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva, says ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s support for Baylesa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, will not threaten his chances of returning to Government House.

Sylva, who is seeking the nomination of the All Progressives Congress in the forthcoming governorship election, said this in an interview in Abuja, on Thursday.

According to him, the former President’s support for Dickson was a clear indication that former President Jonathan was the “President of Bayelsa State” and not the whole of Nigeria.

Sylva spoke after going through a screening exercise, preparatory to contesting the APC governorship primaries.

He said, “Well, frankly, I am not worried. I always say that the former President was the President of Bayelsa State and he has proven me right. He has always been the President of Bayelsa State; He was never the President of Nigeria.”

Asked what his chances of getting the APC ticket were, Sylva said, “I feel that I have a good standing with the people. As you can see, if you look behind me, you will see the array of people who are here with me. Who else is left in Bayelsa? So I think that because of the people who are with me, I stand a very good chance.”

Commenting on the speculations that some aspirants were considering the possibility of stepping down for others, he said, “There are some discussions going on. When it is time to make it public, you will hear.”

A former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Timi Alaibe, and a former Nigerian Ambassador to Japan, Emmanuel Otiotio, are among the 19 aspirants who also obtained nomination forms and attended the screening exercise ahead of the party’s primaries.

Bayelsa, a creeky small state; the smallest of the 36 states in Nigeria is very rich in natural resources especially oil and gas. Curiously, its oil and gas deposits have arguably become a curse to the people rather than a blessing! While the state bled to near death under the reign of Governor Timipre Sylva between 2007 and 2011, the ruling elite wallowed in luxury; stealing of public funds had become the rule rather than the exception! Cultism, crime and criminality walked with two legs untamed and residents slept with one eye open.
The 2011 governorship election in the state was shifted to 2012 following a Supreme Court verdict in a suit brought before it by Sylva in a bid to elongate his tenure, following the nullification of his 2007 election by the tribunal and subsequent victory in the re-run. After over four years of his misrule, the same Sylva sought re-election at the 2012 governorship poll but the PDP had become more sensitive. Sensing that Bayelsans would reject him at the polls, the party disqualified him in the primary election which threw up Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson as PDP governorship candidate and won with about 90 percent of the vote in a highly competitive election.
Since February 12, 2012 that Hon Dickson has held sway in the Creek Haven as governor, the narrative about Bayelsa has changed. Tagged Restoration Agenda, Dickson who was member representing Sagbama/ Ekeremor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives and Chairman of the Justice Committee has left no one in doubt that it would be business unusual!
Upon assumption of office, the Countryman governor who hails from Toru-Urua, a tiny community in Sagbama Local Government, summoned the uncommon courage, 18 years after the creation of Bayelsa State in 1996 to redefine the governance culture, cleansed the Augean Stable in the state and offloaded the N332 billion debt burden incurred by the Sylva administration by redeeming the sum of N232 billion, making the state the least indebted in the federation.
The governor inherited a whopping sum of N1.685billion, being the budget the Sylva government claimed to have used monthly to run Government House, Yenagoa which Dickson reduced to N685million and now to N200m following the economic depression. The predominance of ghost workers in the civil service bloated the monthly salary wage bill of workers put at N6billion, the second after Lagos State which the Dickson government has cut to N4 billion through staff audit, thereby saving money for the state. The governor granted autonomy to the Judiciary, making it possible for the third arm of government to receive their allocation on the first line charge. The Police officer turned governor, outlawed kidnapping/ cultism and made them punishable with death. So far, the governor has walked the talk so much so that ordinary Bayelsans now call him the ‘‘talk na do governor,’’ meaning a governor who makes, keeps and fulfills his promise.
The governor also enacted the Compulsory Savings Law, which makes it mandatory for him to save money for the state. The savings became handy in the wake of the current credit crunch as the money was deployed to meet the strategic obligation of government. At a time when neighbouring oil producing states with low salary wage bills but with more federal allocations are owing workers salary and pensioners, Dickson has kept a clean slate!

Having laid the legal framework for the government by signing these bills into law, Dickson, popularly known as Countryman governor because of his strong connect with the grassroots started implementing his lofty free and compulsory education in primary and secondary schools because he inherited a comatose educational system. In the last three years, N24billion has been spent on the building of over 30 model first ever boarding secondary schools across the 24 state constituencies, building of 400 primary schools with headmaster/ staff quarters across the state. In addition, free textbooks, uniforms, sandals, bags, and writing materials are distributed to pupils and students. Government is also responsible for the payment of WAEC, NECO, and JAMB forms fees for students. And above all, a teachers training institute to train and re-train the teachers has been built and equipped with cutting edge technology. Significantly, government under the watch of Dickson has spent N7billion on sending hundreds of Ijaw speaking Nigerians, particularly Bayelsans to the best of universities abroad on graduate, post-graduate and doctorate degree scholarship.

The good news today is that the Bayelsa education story has changed for good. According to a policy think tank, the African Health, Human and Social Development (Afrii-Dev), Bayelsa has gone from the bottom of the ladder to having the lowest rate of illiteracy among male Nigerians. In 2013, the state had the 6th highest pass rate among Nigeria’s 36 states with 51 per cent pass rate. In 2014, Bayelsa State jumped two places ahead to become the number four best performing state with a pass rate of 52.83 per cent as 34, 242 students scored five credits and above, including Mathematics and English.
Unlike before when Bayelsa was described as a one-road state, the restoration government of Dickson has constructed a ring road that links people from Portharcourt via Igbogene to the heart of Yenagoa without passing through the hassles of traffic gridlock. Before the economic down turn, Bayelsa was turned into a construction site and the people could see their money being judiciously utilized. No more capital flights! Many new roads have been built, several of them rehabilitated and dualized across the state while an audacious first ever flyover named restoration flyover has been built. Many of the contracts including the flyover were handled by Julius Berger. The crowning capstone of these roads are the dualization of the Isaac Adaka Boro Express Way in Yenagoa into three lanes, the Ogobiri/ Toru Ebeni bridge, the longest in the state connecting Sagbama with Southern Ijaw local governments , while the construction of the three senatorial roads- Bayelsa West, East and Central has reached advance stage. The Ogbia-Nembe road in Bayelsa East is worth mentioning here.
A world-class diagnostic centre, and a drug mart named after the late Prof. Dora Akunyili have been built and billed to be commissioned this month. Today, there are referral hospitals in the eight local government headquarters of the state because there is a Dickson as governor. Aside these, the government has also constructed the followings: School of Tourism and Catering, school of music, four state secretariat annexes , Traditional Rulers Secretariat, multi-door Court built for Alternative Dispute Resolution, Government house clinic, Police Officers Mess, deputy governor’s residence, driving school, transparency plaza, government lodges, School of Language, Museum, all in Yenagoa and a host of others. Work on the football academy in Sagbama, in Sagbama Local Government, the NYSC Orientation Camp and Youth Development Centre in Kaiama and Sports Academy, both in Kolokuma Okpokuma Local Government Area have reached advanced stage, while an ultra-modern stadium has been built and put to use in Nembe City. An Ecumenical Centre in Yenagoa and a new government house are about to be completed in Yenagoa, all in less than four years.

A first ever Commercial Cassava Starch Processing Factory cited in Ebidebri in Sagbama with a value chain capacity of providing over 30 thousand job opportunities is about to take off in the state. Several rural communities have been hooked to electricity under the restoration electrification scheme. An airport on the Wilberforce Island, Amassoma meant to open up the state and make it a player in the Gulf of Guinea is under construction. The underpinning philosophy of Dickson’s development paradigm is that no Bayelsan child should go through the deprivation he suffered as a child and that is why education is free for all, so that there is no drop out; and that explains why all the nooks and crannies of the state are linked up through good roads and other social amenities, apparently to avert a situation where children would not have the harrowing experience of sighting a vehicle only at 18 years or so as was the lot of Dickson who had no idea of how a vehicle looked until he rounded off his secondary education and travelled by water to Patani, a town in the present day Delta State.
In line with his inaugural promise not to politicize the security of Bayelsans, the restoration government has invested so much in security, and the resultant effect is that Bayelsa is now, one of the safest and peaceful states in Nigeria. The peace that prevails in the state today is no happenstance. Government set up a security outfit named Operation Dooakpo which has helped to maintain the peace and respond to emergency calls within five minutes. Though there are pockets of crime in the state but any case of breach has always been contained. In 2013, Dooakpo was voted as the best African security outfit in South Africa.

The success story of Bayelsa appears to have taken the state to the world and the world to Bayelsa. Investors now throng to Yenagoa, the state capital to, in the words of the Governor, explore Bayelsa which the countryman once described as ‘‘the world’s best kept secret.’’ In appreciation of the rebranding of the state, several major national and global events have held in Yenagoa, the state capital. Chief amongst them are the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Miss Century, Fashion Festival, AMAA Festival, Global Jazz festival. Others are Economic Summit and the latest, All Nigeria Editors Conference. Interestingly, international figures like Reverend Jesse Jack, wife of Jacob Zuma, envoys and a host of others have also taken time out of their busy schedules to explore the heartland of Ijaw land.

What baffles me is that even though Governor Dickson remains the only governor who renders account of stewardship monthly to his people, set aside November 2 as Thanksgiving Day, gave full autonomy to the Judiciary, introduced full scale free and compulsory education, built a teachers training institute, instituted a social security of N5,000 for all aged, from 75 years and above, paid the salary and pension of workers without borrowing and without tempering with local government funds, he is yet to receive a commensurate encomium for his selfless leadership. Like him or hate him, Governor Dickson has clearly proved that good tidings can also come from Bayelsa, the Jerusalem of Ijaw Nation!

But if it were in other climes where re-election is predicated on track record, Dickson needs not to campaign to win the December 5 governorship polls because he has delivered on his campaign promise. But the governor needs to campaign hard to retain his plum job because the parasitic preservers of unearned privileges and serial governorship aspirants are bent on stopping his re-election. Their mission is to take power and return the glory of all lands to the days of the swarming locusts. But will the masses, who are beneficiaries of the Dickson’s revolution stand by the governor as they have always done?[color=#990000][/color]

….. ASSURES PARTY LEADERS OF A RESOUNDING VICTORY AT DEC. 5

POLLS

Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, accompanied by opinion leaders and PDP stalwarts in the State, Friday submitted his PDP nomination and expression of intent forms at the party’s National Headquarters in Abuja.

The Governor, who was accompanied by the first elected Governor of the State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi, present and past members of the National and State Legislature as well as women and youth groups, created a carnival atmosphere at the PDP National Secretariat.

In his remarks, Hon. Dickson expressed confidence in the ability of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to win the December 5th governorship election in the State, noting that, the PDP remains the only party with realistic ideologies and notable presence at the grassroots level.

He remarked that, Bayelsans would remain eternally grateful to the PDP for creating the platform for a son of the State to occupy the highest leadership position in the country, pointing out that, the All Progressives Congress, APC in Bayelsa State, is a party of governorship candidates, without followers.

According to him, the PDP has delivered on its mandate like it has never done before, with its achievements visible for all Bayelsans to see for themselves, pointing out that, what the opposition is known for is propaganda in the pages of newspapers.

The countriman Governor expressed gratitude to the elders and political leaders, who accompanied him to the ceremony, stressing that, with the level of support and commitment being demonstrated by persons of their caliber, who are the authentic leaders of their local governments, wards and units, the PDP is assured of a resounding victory at the polls.

Governor Dickson also used the occasion to call on agencies of the government, who would be involved in the elections to act professionally and in line with democratic tenets, as anything short could spell doom for the Nation’s growing democracy.

Earlier, welcoming the governor to the party secretariat, the National Organising Secretary of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha extolled the leadership qualities of Governor Dickson, noting that, the he has faithfully delivered the dividends of democracy to the people of the State in all sectors.

He commended the leaders of the party in the State for their unity of purpose and support for the governor, who has made the party proud by his actions.

Also speaking when the Bayelsa State Governor paid him a courtesy visit in his office at the Wadata Plaza, the PDP Acting National Chairman, Chief Uche Secondus, noted with satisfaction the Governor’s commitment to the development of the State and assured him that, the National secretariat will put all the necessary machinery in place towards the organization of a credible, free and fair governorship primaries in the State, after which it will collaborate with the state branch to work for the eventual candidate of the PDP for the December 5th election.

Modest Achievements (Roads) of the Restoration Administration. Second tenure will be more eventful
1. Construction of Hon. Justice Tabai Road, Edepie Yenagoa
2. Dualization of AIT- Sani Abacha road by Bayelsa Palm Yenagoa
3. Expansion of Lambert Eradiri road Yenagoa
4. Construction of Col. Inokoba Road off Azikoro Yenagoa
5. Construction of Internal Roads in Toru-Orua, Sagbama
6. Construction of 32 kilometers Tombia-Etegwe Road with 8 Bridges
7. Construction of 350meters Access road to Nembe police station
8. Construction of 2kilometers Yenagoa -Oporoama Road
9. Construction of Bridge to link Tourist Island Yenagoa
10. Dualization of Igbogene Junction to Glory Drive Igbogene Round about Yenagoa
11. Construction of Ikolo Creek Bridge and Access road Yenagoa
12. Construction of Opolo Elebele Road Yenagoa
13. Construction of Isaac Boro road Yenagoa
14. Construction of Road Safety-Diete Spiff- Hospital Road Ovom Yenagoa. 15. Construction of 3.6 kilometres access road Boro Town Kaiama,
16. Construction of NYSC Orientation Camp access road Kaiama
17. Construction of Azikoro Road Yenagoa
18. Construction of Jonathan road, Kpansia-Yenagoa
19. Construction of Road 24, High Profile Layout, Yenagoa
20. Construction of road 31 (high profile layout) Yenagoa.
21. Construction of road 28 (high profile layout) Yenagoa.
22. Construction of road 27c Spur (high profile layout) Yenagoa.
23. Construction of 1.98 kilometers Road 30 Spur (high profile layout) Yenagoa. 24. Construction of 1.98 kilometers Road 38/27 new kpansia market road(high profile layout) Yenagoa. 25. Construction of market road phase 1. Nembe.
26. Rehabilitation of the failed sections of Tombia-Amassoma Road, with 2 double culverts 27. Construction of road, parking area, cell blocks and sand filling of Okaka Prisons.
28. Construction of Govt. House car park
29. Construction of Access road to plot 079 Azikoro GRA Phase1 Yenagoa
30. Construction of additional 3 kilometers roadwork Toru- Orua Agalabiri 31.
31. Construction of Okah-Oba Road
32. Dualization of Capt Amangala Road
33. Dualization of Marine Police Road
34. Dualization of Igbogene-AITsection Outer Ring Road, Yenagoa
35. Construction of flyover at NNPC Roundabout, Yenagoa
36. Construction of km25 from Toru-Orua to Ekeremor Road
37. Const. of Bayelsa State Airport Road
38. Completion of the Ogobiri-Toru-Ebeni Bridge Project
39. Construction of Phase 1 Bayelsa West Senatorial Road
40. Construction of Phase 1 Bayelsa East Senatorial Road
41. Construction of Phase 1 Bayelsa Central Senatorial Road

Educational Institutions

a. Construction of a College of Education at Sagbama
b. Construction of International Institute of Tourism & Hospitality- first of its kind in the federation.
c. Construction of Driving Academy
d. Construction of Sports Academy
e. Construction of School of Music
f. Construction of School of Languages
g. Construction of Teachers Training Institute
h. Construction of Public Service Training Institute
i. Construction of Museum and monuments
j. Arrangements are in top gear to build a modern Maritime Academy
k. Construction of 25 Mega Schools across the 3 senatorial Districts of the State
l. Construction of 25 Model Schools
m. Construction and renovation of 400 primary and secondary schools
n. Construction of 400 2-bedrooms Headmasters’ Quarters with extra 4 rooms for single teachers.

Construction Continues

Bayelsa State is one of the few states that have so far paid up all civil servants & Pensions despite dwindling allocation from the federation account before the federal government’s bail out to states.
8. Construction of the first flyover in the State
9. Dualization of Tombia-Amassoma Road
10. Dualization of Opolo-Elebele Road
11. Dualization of Road Safety Road
12. Dualization of Hospital Road
13. Dualization of King Diete-Spiff Road
14. Dualization of Onopa Road
15. Boosting the Ogbia-Nembe Road
16. Accelerated progress in the Oporoma Road
17. Completion of the Toru-Ebeni Bridge
18. Airport Project…in Progress
19. Construction of Traditional Rulers Council Secretariat
20. Construction of the Officers Mess
21. Construction of the Diagnostic Centre
22. Construction of the Pharmaceutical Storage and Distribution Complex
23. Construction of the Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Research Centre
24. Upgrading of Government House Clinic to a state-of-the –art Health Facility
25. Dualization of the Igbogene Road and Construction of the bridge
26. The Igbogene-Elebele by-pass….reached advanced stage.
27. Construction of Five Secretariat Annexes for Civil Servants
IF MONEY WAS SHARED BY THE FEW POLITICAL ELITES, WE WOULD NOT HAVE COME THIS FAR

The Bayelsa economy is very stable. Inflation rate has been stable so does the prices of commodities. Consumer behaviour has changed and emphasis has shifted from luxuries to necessaries. The phenomenon of reckless spending has been checked because monies are invested in the real sectors of the economy. “The success story in Bayelsa State is a function of prudence, financial discipline, transparency, accountability and value-reorientation. Those who are used to the unedifying culture of sharing money without working are pained, but they also acknowledge that Restoration is working”

The Restoration Administration came on stream with a mission to fast-track the development of Bayelsa State. This is against the background of the development lag the State had experienced in the past years. The administration fixed peace and security, infrastructural development and embarked on aggressive human capital development.

The Restoration Administration is anchored on ten pillars

1. Efficiency: In the optimization of human, material and fiscal resources to achieve results.

2. Transparency in terms of conducting governmental businesses.

3. Accountability in terms of accuracy in keeping government official transactions and making such record available got public scrutiny.

4. Policy and programme implementation in accordance to the policy thrust of government.

5. Participation in Government that is involving people in the process of taking decision. Most public policies and now owned and driven by the people thelselves.

6. Fiscal Discipline in term of budget implementation to meet government long, medium and short term targets and to build trust that money is spent in the right way.

7. Performance and merit-driven system where work ethics has been vivified

8. Budget Implementation: The degree to which Ministries and Parastatals comply with budget implementation guidelines to meet projected targets in a fiscal year.

9. Result-Oriented Programmes: This explains how the projects and programmes of government Ministries and Parastatals yield tangible results in terms of SMART: Sustainable, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic Timeliness.

10. In addition, Government ensures that all MDAs work in synergy and in tandam with strategic long-term objectives of government. Synergy facilitates policy implementation.

I did a random sampling on 3 likely candidates for the December 5 election in Bayelsa yesterday. Here was my findings;
1) Sylva: Many say they remember him for inviting people under the pretext of having breakfast with him and giving them the strokes of their lives for daring to speak openly against him during his radio programmes . Those from Nembe are quick to say “God forbid” each time i mention his name saying they canner vote for a man who never saw the construction of Nembe road as viable
2) Alaibe: Yenagoa residents label him a fraudster who should never be trusted with state treasury. They say with confidence that his antecedents at NDDC speak for themselves.
3) Dickson: Over 85% of those I spoke with say he is the first to have truly engaged in real developmental projects in Bayelsa. Their only regret is that he is too rigid and would not involve in the "sharing the money syndrome"
If this opinion pool is anything to go bye, then Dickson deserve a second tenure. We need a leader who will develop the state and not those who will share our collective patrimony amongst their cronies.

There are strong indications that wife of former president Jonathan, Dame Patience, may have mended fences with Governor Seriake Dickson ahead of the Bayelsa State governorship election scheduled for December.
Jonathan’s wife and the governor were at logger heads for a long time, giving rise to speculations she was supporting the former senior special assistant to Jonathan on domestic affairs, Dr Waripamowei Dudafa, to challenge Dickson at the poll.
Our correspondent has learnt however that Mrs Jonathan has lately directed all her loyalists in the state to work selflessly for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the re-election bid of the incumbent governor.
It was gathered that the decision to set aside her differences with Dickson was based on the need to stop the All Progressives Congress (APC) from taking over power in Bayelsa state from the PDP.
However, sources close to the PDP claimed that Mrs Jonathan’s decision to reconcile with Dickson was based on the series of interventions from some Bayelsa elders, including the former governor Chief D.S.P Alameiseigha.
A close relative of Jonathan and former state commissioner for special duties (federal project), Engr. Mike Ogiasa, who confirmed this development said: “As a close family member, I known her (Patience) very well. She can suppress her anger against someone and do the right thing. As I am talking to you, I believe, as a typical PDP woman, she can never support another political party against the choice of the PDP.
“In politics, there is unity in diversity. People disagree to agree. It was not a hidden fact that governor Dickson was at loggerhead with Dame Patience Jonathan. But it is also true that, by human nature, she may not have supported Dickson. But she has weighed it and discovered that the election is beyond Dickson. And because she is from Bayelsa and Rivers states, she knows what it took the Rivers man to retain the PDP leadership. She cannot now because of anger allow Bayelsa to be under the APC.”
“Though I don’t know who she is supporting, but I know that she can never vote the APC against the PDP. If anyone emerges at the PDP primaries, she will support the person. And if Dickson emerges as flag bearer, I am hundred per cent sure she will support him.”