A Niger Delta activist and coordinator of Ijaw Monitoring Group, Mr Joseph
Evah, has commended the Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, for
his prudent management of state resources amidst financial crunch and debt
burden debates in the country.
He therefore challenged other states to learn from Dickson effective and
prudent management of resources, while at the same time “endorsing his
re-election in 2016.”
“Despite the various strides in infrastructure, education, health and
economic development, Bayelsa State is not an indebted state as a borrower
in the capital market and it is also a reminder to the skeptics that the
state was not one of several others listed either among the heavily
indebted states or the least indebted as current figures of the Debt
Management Office (DMO) in the external debt categories indicated”, Evah
emphasized.
The civil rights activist in a statement issued on Monday evening in
reaction to the current national economic situation said such leadership
trait marked out the governor as a visionary and modern manager whose
understanding of public policy and public finance is making a difference.
According to him, the financial crunch weighing down many states with the
biggest problem being inability to pay salaries was attributed to
excessive borrowing and the challenge of dwindling revenue from the
federation account, adding that borrowing without a productive base was
not a sustainable policy and as such should be discouraged forthwith.
He however acknowledged that Bayelsa State despite going through the same
revenue shortfall from the centre as other states, Bayelsa State is still
able to keep afloat because of careful planning, blocking of leakages in
the system, prudent and purposeful use of public funds and zero tolerance
to corruption.
Evah said diversification of the national economy was imperative, adding
that he was pleased that the state government was already in the forefront
of exploiting alternative means of revenue other than oil and gas.
He said, “At a time like this, I think we should take stock of the
challenges of development in Bayelsa State and with particular reference
to the governor’s management style and results in economic development as
a factor of public sector finance management. We have followed the
national debates in the last few weeks on the tough situations in the
economy which has a common concern in liquidity crisis where debt overhang
is a major issue across the states and the widespread concern about
inability to pay salaries.
“Although borrowing is not a bad thing when tied to specific development
agenda, excessive borrowing to the extent of constituting liability to
effective running of governments and meeting statutory obligations is an
issue. While we are not in any position to condemn those caught in the web
of financial tightrope especially in view of the huge shortfall in revenue
from the federation account, we find it important to draw the attention of
our people back home to the shrewd management by Governor Seriake Dickson
which has helped to keep the state afloat till date. Indeed, we believe
that the economic diversification agenda of the state government is the
future which can help to create jobs and rely less and less on oil and
gas. It is the solution to economic stability and sustenance.
“The truth is that no one state in the nation today can claim to be
performing at optimal capacity for obvious reasons but the fact that
Bayelsa State has continued to pay salaries and running government to keep
up with other statutory obligations is a feat we should commend. It
clearly speaks to vision, capacity, prudence and good leadership.
“We find it important to make this point to correct critics of the state
government who are usually influenced by politics rather than the
remarkable achievements of the governor.