I have come to understand that people who consider themselves fringe elements within a particular setting do not joke with anything or anybody that guarantees them freedom. Granting them independence or autonomy releases them from a feeling of claustrophobia. It makes them believe that the time has come for them to realize their full potentials.
My first hint of this tendency came from the people of Ebonyi State in south east Nigeria. My association with some prominent people of the state reveals that they are forever grateful to General Sani Abacha for giving them a state of their own. They express this feeling of gratitude at every turn. They believe that Abacha liberated them from the big influence or dominance of their brothers from the same zone. But with a state of their own, they can take their destiny in their own hands.
I had thought that this feeling was peculiarly Ebonyi until I visited Bayelsa State last November for an official engagement. Ebonyi and Bayelsa states were among the six states that were created by the regime of Sani Abacha in 1996. While in Yenagoa, I had the opportunity of listening to Governor Douye Diri as he addressed a gathering of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. The governor expressed deep gratitude to Abacha for giving them Bayelsa State. He reminded his audience that Yenagoa, the state capital, was just a local government headquarters in Rivers State before Abacha came with the magic of state creation. He told the editors that if Abacha had not created Bayelsa state, we would not be where we were that day- at the DSP Alamieyesigha Memorial Banquet Hall – for that year’s edition of All Nigeria Editors Conference. The governor was not alone. A few other Bayelsans I came in contact with at that event echoed the governor’s sentiments about their love for Abacha, regardless of whatever anybody might think or say about him.
But it is one thing for a people to cherish the autonomy and freedom that come their way, it is another for them to convert the situation of autonomy or freedom to advantage. This is where true love for or devotion to one’s community or locality or state comes in. There are cases of entities that were granted autonomy only for them to rise against one another. In such a fractious situation, freedom becomes an enslavement and a burden.
But those who genuinely cherish their autonomy and the freedom that comes with it act differently. They try to ensure that the full benefits of their dream status is harnessed to the advantage of the people. This is the case with Bayelsa State under Governor Diri. I started paying more than a cursory attention to Bayelsa affairs after the November, 2024 expedition. Over time, I have come to notice that the governor is a lover of his people and his state. His commitment to the welfare of the state workforce bears eloquent testimony to this. To ensure that the development of the state stays on course, the governor has sustained the mobilization of contractors to key project sites in the spirit of continuity. When he invited Governor Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State in March this year for the commissioning of some of his projects, he bared his mind to the Nigerian people. He said his mission in government was to make things simpler for his people of Bayelsa state so that they will be happy.
He said that that was the essence of governance. He was right. Governance should translate into the greatest good for the greatest number, but it can only take a patriotic spirit to do that. It takes love for one’s people to recognize and appreciate the fact that government exists in the service of the people.
The likes of Governor Diri must have reasoned that the people of Bayelsa State would have gained nothing if at the end of the day Yenagoa remains the mere local government headquarters that it used to be. Consequently, the government of the state has unveiled a master plan for New Yenagoa City. The idea behind this is to expand the state capital and build a model city within the city where modern facilities that befit a 21st Century state capital will be put in place. This is already happening in Bayelsa state under Governor Douye Diri.
Until I operated for some four days in Yenagoa last November, the impression I had of the place was one of an insecure environment where you cannot take liberties to exercise yourself. I had imagined that militancy would be a common feature of the state based on what we know about the poor state of security in the Niger Delta. But that was not the case. The state is peaceful and therefore inviting. I understand that this is so because the governor is investing in peace-building. Some call him the unifier because of his effort at ensuring that disparate elements come together and work for the peace and progress of the state.
It was therefore little wonder that the governor resisted the recent attempt to import trouble into Bayelsa from neighboring Rivers State. Even though the suspended governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, is Ijaw like Diri, the Bayelsa governor has not betrayed any tribal sentiment over the unlawful and unconstitutional suspension of Fubara. Instead, he has stood on the side of justice and fairness. Under such circumstance, one would have thought that Nyesom Wike, Fubara’s tormentor, would restrict his braggadocio to Rivers State. But that was not the case. He decided that his supporters should leave Rivers and march into Bayelsa for a rally. Those who were able to read the handwriting on the wall correctly knew what Wike was driving at. He wanted to pull Diri out. He wanted to rope the governor into Fubara’s problem so that President Bola Tinubu would begin to feel awkward about the governor. But the plot did not work. Governor Diri was able to weather the storm because he is a man of peace. If he were as brash as Wike, perhaps Bayelsa would have, by now, turned into a theatre of acrimony and bad blood.
Perhaps, Governor Diri is succeeding because the people of the state, particularly the major stakeholders, are united in their resolve to improve the fortunes of their people. Bayelsa is peaceful because the governor is a man of peace. But his peace effort is complemented by other prominent Bayelsans. None wants to ride roughshod over the other. It is a case of mutual respect as well as live and let live. In Bayelsa, President Jonathan’s own homeland, there is no godfather. Those who left office are not making demands of their successors as is the case in most states of the Federation. The people of Bayelsa State led by Governor Diri appear to be interested in one thing – the development of their homeland for the benefit of all Bayelsans. So far, this noble objective is working.
QUOTE:
“The people of Bayelsa State led by Governor Diri appear to be interested in one thing – the development of their homeland for the benefit of all Bayelsans. So far, this noble objective is working.”
