On Monday 30th of September, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’Abba will chair a public lecture to mark the 17th anniversary of the creation of Bayelsa state created by the late General Sani Abacha’s administration in 1996. The government of Bayelsa state says indigenes of the oil-rich state will be eternally grateful to the late head of state for the development. In this interview with Solomon Nda-Isaiah, Chief Press Secretary to the Bayelsa state governor, Daniel Iworiso-Markson bares it all.
In a few days, Bayelsa state will mark 17 years of its creation. How do you assess the journey so far?
Bayelsa State came into being due the agitation of a people with indomitable spirit. Ours is a state that is an embodiment of the spirit of resilience and nationalism. At the heart of the agitation for the creation of Bayelsa State was the consciousness, especially among the Ijaw elite that our people were being marginalized with regard to the spread of developmental projects in the old Rivers State. When our founding fathers started agitating for what is today known Bayelsa state, they had rightfully placed hope that when the Ijaw nation has its own state, it would represent a lasting solution to the then perennial underdevelopment of the Ijaw speaking areas.
You will be hosting the former Speaker, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na’Abba and elder statesman Chief Ebenezer Babatope for a public lecture on Bayelsa’s 17th anniversary lecture. But does the ordinary man on the street share in this joy that is quite evident among the state’s ruling class?
I am confident that if you meet with the average Ijaw man or woman, he or she will readily admit that it is a big deal to have a state of your dreams created in such a complicated federation like ours. For us, the creation of Bayelsa was instrumental to the reality of producing the first president from the minority in Nigeria. Astute students of politics will tell you that it would have been practically impossible for an Ijaw man to have emerged president of our great country without a homogenous Ijaw state. Leaving the political arena to the issue of development which was the kernel of the agitation for an Ijaw state, I would say the state has evolved under different leaderships, from the military era down to civilian administration with varying levels of development.As is expected of a new state, from the beginning till date, the critical question of infrastructural development remains on the front burner. Administration after administration has concentrated on the provision of critical infrastructure. This has seen government after government, building roads, bridges, housing projects, schools and hospitals. Just like the Dickson administration, earlier administrations were also concerned with creating jobs for the teeming youths in particular, establishing vital institutions and running the state bureaucracy as expected in a modern state yearning for growth and development. Observers have often criticized the states created in the 90s for not meeting up with expectations developmentally speaking.
Judging by the level of development in Bayelsa, do you think your state should be spared this criticism?
The unique ecology of Bayelsa state is common knowledge. And most people also know that the topography of in Bayelsa has made it more cumbersome and even more capital intensive to provide basic infrastructure. But I must say, especially with the Dickson administration that the environmental cum topographical challenges have led to innovative solutions. Government is about thinking-out and executing solutions to problems that make the people stagnated. Government is basically about providing the people with basic infrastructure that will help them succeed. So if you are situating development in a strategic sense of government being the facilitator, it is safe to say that the level of development in the state in the last 17 years in commendable. Those who have been to Bayelsa state especially in the last two years can attest to the intensified efforts of government to deliver quality and durable infrastructure on record time.
Still talking about the development of Bayelsa state, how do you rate the economic growth of the state?
Bayelsa state has an economy with a Gross State Product (GDP) of N2.4 trillion or $18.5bn. Our economy is large enough to attract the right kind of investors from any part of the world. Judging by the figures I have given you, you can cross-check to accept the fact that our economy is larger than the national and combined GDP of countries like Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Cape Verde and Liberia. Interestingly, among the 15 ECOWAS nations, only Ghana and Cote’d Voire have national GDPs larger than Bayelsa’s.
Aside from having a GDP larger than that of a number of West African countries, do you rate the investment climate in your state conducive?
These days, visitors to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, could easily find decent accommodation in the various hotels out there to settle in and do business, hold meetings or attend conferences as a city coming of age. Major indices of modern society are evident in our state. The social life is getting better and there is the general upbeat feeling among the people. But the story was different when Navy Capt. Philip Ayeni (rtd) resumed duties there as the first military administrator when the state was created in 1996. Ayeni had no office or a place to call home. He was sheltered in the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), one of the two political parties created then by the military administration to foster the return to democratic rule. As a matter of fact, where we now have the state’s Banquet Hall at the seat of power in Yenagoa was a river filled with crocodiles.One could stand at any point in the state capital for hours without recording more than 4 to 5 cars passing through. This is a huge contrast now with a legion of cars and variety of roads linking the various parts of the state with the capital. This means that investors can go beyond the state capital. Militancy is now a thing of the past, thanks to the amnesty policy, so investors are safe wherever they situate their companies. The current administration is also investing heavily in education. Our free and compulsory education policy is targeted at our state producing skilled manpower in the near future. The ultimate goal of the Dickson administration is to make Bayelsa state the destination where the investor walks in with his briefcase and he can get every other thing needed for his company by simply advertising for it.Ours is also a haven for investors because of our fiscal/economic policies which are investor friendly without mortgaging the future of the state. You know we have also started a post oil-economy for Bayelsa state through a well articulated and meticulously executed tourism master plan. The current administration has also done a lot with regard to revitalising the Agricultural sector because it is crucial to youth empowerment and poverty alleviation. From what I have just said, you will agree that this young state has come a long way. And the current administration is walking the talk when it comes to making Bayelsa a safe and excellent place to invest in. Governor Dickson has been on the saddle since 2011.
Would you say the Dickson administration has the kind of policies that will bring the dreams of the state’s founding fathers to reality?
The people of Bayelsa love to describe the current administration as one that has tangible results they see and benefit from directly. For dispassionate observers, it is unmistakable that in less than 2 years of assuming office, Governor Dickson has displayed commitment to making Bayelsa a model state, where government is indeed for the people. Lots of young Bayelsans have dubbed the governor a consummate visionary imbued with the requisite leadership attributes of a modern leader. He has so far left no one in doubt that he came into office with a good grasp of what good governance means. He has demonstrated the need for accountability and transparency.He has returned power to the people by building relevant institutions to run a focused and purposeful government that really cares for the broad interest of the people of Bayelsa state. Of course, he is pretty ambitious in this regard, fashioning out some progressive policies and programs and translating them into far-reaching goals, particularly in infrastructural development as basic requirement for the rapid economic development of the state. The business element of building a sustainable economy is also significant in a well- articulated model for wealth creation, already looking beyond oil as the mainstay of the state economy.He is fired by idealism and his populism transcends the toga of being called a countryman governor in earnest appreciation of his affinity with the grassroots. Governor Dickson is transforming lives. No doubt, what is happening to governance in BayelsaState today is revolutionary and so innovative, matching sheer enterprise with grit and in the process giving birth to a new Bayelsa.
See more at: http://leadership.ng/news/260913/ijaws-grateful-abacha-creating-bayelsa-state-dickson-s-aide#sthash.zLdBIN70.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment