big political parties PDP and APC are poised to out-campaign each other
with a view to selling their candidates and their manifestoes. No doubt,
the country-man governor, Henry Seriake Dickson who is seeking re-election
is the candidate to beat. Many of his supporters believe the achievements
of his restoration government will hand him the much deserved re-election.
In this interview, Governor Dickson spoke on wide range of issues — His
achievements, re-election and other political issues in the state.
Excepts:
QUESTION:
Before you declared your intention to run for a second term in office
where we witnessed a mammoth crowd and supporters from different parts of
the state, it was one endorsement after the other. Did any of this
surprise you and how much has your confidence been boosted?
Governor Dickson:
Firstly, I will like to use this medium to express my gratitude personally
and that of the Government that I head to all those wonderful Bayelsans
and wonderful leaders of the state and of our party and all those leaders
who came from far and near to grace the declaration ceremony on the 8th of
September, 2015.I remain very grateful to you all for the encouragement
and above all I remain grateful to God that the event went according to
plan and exceeded our expectations. I want to again express my gratitude
to all Bayelsans, wonderful people who went there early in spite of the
rains and stayed there till about 3pm when I came in with my colleagues.
Although we came in late, people were patient and that is a very
significant sign.
In a way, I was surprised because of the negative propaganda that has been
going on in the state for over 3 years and because all we have
concentrated on all this time is working for the good people of Bayelsa.
That rally was the first major political activity that I was getting
involved in after the last general election and so I was really touched.
The lesson is that our people are not carried away by the negative
propaganda that politicians are engaged in. What I have seen over the
years has been the politics of betrayal, back stabbing, where people you
support turn around at the time you need them most to spite you. I am
getting immune to that but the people, the ordinary people who are the
voters are very different.
Remarkably only a few weeks ago we also saw people gather there;the
stadium was scanty even with the media manipulation. Most of the crowd
came from outside the state. Remember I made that stadium available as
part of the legacy of political tolerance to leave behind. Everybody is
free to organise rallies, meetings and for their primaries and I have
again made the sports complex available to them.
QUESTION:
You have just emerged as the sole candidate of the PDP. Bearing in mind
that you have done so much in nearly all sectors of this state, what do we
expect to see in you second term if you emerge victorious?
Gov. Dickson:
I am not surprised that I am the candidate of my party. I have always been
the presumptive candidate because every incumbent is a presumptive
candidate of his party for re-election particularly under the rules and
regulations of our party. Just two days ago you saw my colleague the
Governor of Kogi State emerge victorious against what some people
described as a formidable opponent. There had been no serious challenge
for the PDP ticket all along. It was all propaganda, blackmail, put up
stories but with no substance on the ground.
I have my certificate of screening having passed the screening. I
appreciate the participation in the exercise if the other two gentlemen
one of whom was my commissioner until only recently and who remain my
friends. But the party organs have spoken expect them at this point with
their pockets of supporters to abide by and respect the decision of the
supreme organs of the party. I expect them to respect the decision and
join in the campaign efforts . At this point it is not about me but our
party. I look forward to welcoming them, to incorporating them and their
supporters in our scheme of things and government so that we can move
forward together. I am delighted to be the sole candidate of my party. I
have led this party through thick and thin and very trying moments to
victory. We have had several elections in this state and I have played
very active roles even nationally in the affairs of our party and I expect
everybody to be on board. I am a consensus builder and we will build the
right consensus and bring all players, leaders and supporters of our party
on board so that we can move as a team to what is expected to be a land
slide victory for our party.
QUESTION:
There is talk tha you intend to visit and talk with some major
stakeholders of your party,that is the PDP, ahead of the campaign but some
of whom had said they do not want you to run again for Governor. Do you
think your meeting them will make any difference?
Gov. Dickson:
The political leader must be prepared for consensus building as an
integral part of the political process and if there is anything I know how
to do, it is to assemble and manage humans and resources. The name of our
game as I always say is engagement and more engagement, the more we
disagree the more we should engage . Nobody is too big or too small to be
spoken to. As a matter of fact my plan is to campaign the other party and
its candidate out and defeat them long before the general election. My
campaign will target people from all walks of life, i will visit almost
all the communities that need to be visited. i will spend more time on
campaigns which will enable me test the capacity of the flag bearer of the
other party.
QUESTION :
Despite your remarkable achievements in the area of peace and security,
concerns are being raised in view of recent development across the state
and the people are linking the incidents to the forthcoming governorship
elections. How do you react to these concerns ?
Gov. Dickson:
It wont be appropriate for me to comment on some of these breaches of
security that we have witnessed but essentially Bayelsa state remains one
of the safest states and is relatively more stable and safer now. Is there
a correlation between the kidnap of my SA(Political) and the general
election? Some people say so based on the antecedent of the gentlemen who
are on the other side. You all know how i play politics in this state. I
don’t resort to violence. In the end violence does not pay but a number of
them in this state feel that violence is synonymous with politics
particularly with elections. Elections are not meant to be warfare, they
are not meant to be fought with guns knives,dynamites and bombs. Electoral
battles are fought with vision and ideas and i am ready, roaring to go
running on the strength of the achievements of my government, running on
the strength of my vision and ideas, i don’t need any thug,any criminal or
militant around. We want to win elections on the ground ;we want to sell
our ideas to the people and I will go out and meet all voters. I will
interact with them. I will be in every community to campaign,to show what
we have done and what more can be done. i don’t see any candidate in other
party that can match us in terms of ideas or vision. We all know them.
They are more interested in militancy and playing politics with the
unfortunate militant situation in this state and in the Niger Delta in
Abuja,parading themselves as those who are in control of militants and
criminals.Bayelsans should ask them the cults and societies they belong to
and their various responsibilities. We belong to none. They have failed
our people, they have failed our country and we know the issues and
baggages they carry and frankly speaking it is an exciting campaign Imam
looking forward to.
I will only at this point call on the security bodies to be alive to their
responsibilities so that we can have a hitch free and peaceful atmosphere
for elections.
Question:
During the presidential election, the candidates were made to sign a peace
pact. Will you be willing to subject yourself to the signing of a peace
pact in Bayelsa state given the political tension that may likely come up
in the build up to the December 5 governorship election? Do you feel
threatened by any candidate that wiuld emerge from the APC’s primary
election?
Gov. Dickson:
The APC leadership knows that almost all their candidates are violent
people, they are people with known violent antecedents. My record of
political tolerance is very well known. Where they will be holding their
primaries is a state -owned facility;they have applied and i have directed
that it should be made available to them. Now none of them as governor
will do the same even in the era of political tolerance because of their
violent past. The only thing they brag about is how they will use their
security forces to kill their people, use the federal government to
manipulate the system. I am happy that their party has made them to sign
an undertaking for peaceful conduct with respect to their primaries but
their party should do much more. It shouldn’t be limited to their
primaries; it should also make them maintain the peace and to generally
behave well during the general election. We as a government and I as a
candidate will be willing to be part of any process that will commit them
further whoever their candidate will be, to maintain and keep the peace.
We want an election run on ideas, on vision. If someone is saying he wants
to create jobs I will want to ask him what jobs he created on his last
assignment where you had far more money than Bayelsa which is struggling
to meet our obligations. Some aspirants in the APC don’t know that this
state does not have the resources to fund their lavish lifestyles and they
are deceiving people with all manner of promises. I can’t wait for their
candidate to emerge. I want to take them on. In the area of security what
role did they play in keeping Bayelsa unsafe? In the area of development
someone without fear of God referred to that wonderful flyover constructed
by Julius Berger as a footpath. You call it a footpath; agreed, but how
many of such footpaths did you construct ?
I don’t think they are ready for this campaign. There is no aspirant in
APC that is ready to take me on, on the core issues that matter to
Bayelsans. Most of them are political jobbers,traders and scammers who are
just taking advantage of the presidency at the federal level. None of them
with the present constraints that the state governors are managing can do
one tenth of what we have been able to put on ground. I can’t wait to know
who their candidate will be. They have no candidate that will be a concern
to me. In fact if you put all of them together the better for me because
the baggage that they all have from failed hopes in NDDC to failed hopes
in Bayelsa state alone will overcome them. They should be ready to debate
their record of service whether you were executive director, finance
director where they used money meant for NDDC to play politics. In this
election every vote will be fought for not by bullets and guns or by
militants that they are banking on, every vote will be contested for and
won on ideas and record of service. The APC in Bayelsa has no candidate to
match my record of service.
QUESTION:
But isn’t the fact that the APC controls power at the centre a factor?
Gov. Dickson:
I am banking on the people to secure my votes. I am banking on you the
proud ijaw people who have never been defeated and I am banking on my
record of service and my performance. When I go to every community I will
show them the schools that were not built by the NDDC but by the state
government. i will point at the roads that I have built across Yenagoa and
across the state that could have been built by the NDDC and the government
under Governor Sylva that were not built but which I have. When I go
rround the state I will show the hospitals that could have been built by
the NDDC under Timi Alaibe and which could have been built by the former
governor but which I now had to do. I will talk about the peace that could
have been brought to this state that was not but which I brought. I am
running on my concrete record of service. Those guys are not as prepared
as i am for this campaign. They go around spreading propaganda on pages of
newspapers and positioning themselves for federal appointments. I urge the
good people of Bayelsa not to follow them again as they will abandon you
again as they always do and they will leave you here with your countryman
governor. Are we where we want Bayelsa to be? I’d be the first to say NO
because Rome was not built in a day. We have tried and you have seen our
honest efforts and that is the reason we are running, to consolidate, to
make the change irreversible. This election is not just about governorship
it is about your future. These people want to gamble with your future,
your life, your state and your resources, to transfer money to their
friends and so on and become good boys to people in Lagos and Abuja. Is
that the nature of governors you want in Bayelsa?
Question:
What is the problem with the Ogbia power project?
Gov.Dickson:
The machinery has been installed, the turbines installed and tested. Very
soon we will go round on ‘Operation light up Bayelsa’ and then it will be
put on formally. W paid about 400million Naira to Shell for the gas
supplied which could have been done by the governor before me but he
failed to. Rather he owed Shell for gas that was supplied but even as
there is no money now we have managed to pay so there is gas supply
reconnected. We are also extending light to Nembe and the communities
around Yenagoa as will Amassoma. The one between Sagbama and Ofoni will
also be commissioned down to Agbere area. Now ask these gentlemen, the
ones in NNDC for 10years, the one that was Governor for 5years why they
did not give light to our people. These are the questions you Bayelsans
should ask them, not running to a party because the party has won election
at the federal level. We are running on concrete records.
Question:
When you assumed office in 2012, you realised the importance of human
capacity building and set up schools such as the institute of tourism,
teachers training institute (TTI), and the maritime academy and you
recently announced that the schools will be opened soon. When precisely?
Gov. Dickson:
This country is in recession, the Teachers Training Institute is already
equipped. I will only approve the skeletal staff that needs to be there to
run it but we have funding challenges. The good thing is that we have put
the physical structure on ground which is the most important thing. I
cannot use money meant for salaries of workers to put into any project
now.That is the problem we have. I do not want to commit the state to
unneccessary debt and mortgage your future. I am not like others who will
go and take facilities and loans and they do not care what happens to the
people. I care about what happens to this state even after my tenure
because unlike them I am not a Lagos boy or Abuja boy, I am a home boy, I
will be here with you even after my service supporting whoever God raises
to take over after me, so I am attending to issues of the state with a lot
of care. We are having challenges, we expect you to bear with us, since we
have done the most important thing which is the physical infrastructure.
For now I am concerned about the increase in the wage bill. I cannot
employ them and not pay them salaries. I need to buy beds and equip the
schools for them to start and right now we do not have the funding for
that. A number of contractors have finished their work but are yet to hand
over the keys because we are indebted to them.
Question:
When will you fix the Swali market road and consider the people of Swali
for appointment.
Gov. Dickson:
There are some roads that have become quite bad because of the funding
situation. Some like the Igbogene we started. We changed the monkey
bridge, that is one bridge my predecessor should have worked on but did
not for 5 years. I am sure that he knows the situation of that Igbogene by
pass but kept it the way it is. That was the same condition with the
Amassoma-Tombia road until now that we have done it the way it is. For
that of Igbogene, I asked the commissioner to call the contractor this
morning, so they are coming back so that we can at least try to make sure
we complete even one lane, as the bridge is already in place which was the
most difficult part. There are a number of roads also within the town,
particularly Swali road. My commissioner and his team are on it. It will
be done by direct labour. There are also two roads that I have made a
commitment to in Ogbia Local Government. The roads are quite bad, from
Opolo down to Otuoke and from Imiringi .Other roads like that we will
resurface. So they will look at the Swali Market road. As for appointment
you will be taken care of just like every community in Bayelsa.
Question:
What is the relevance of the Bayelsa Volunteers if we are having kidnap
cases like that of your special adviser on political matters?
Gov. Dickson:
The Bayelsa Volunteers enable me and the security team to have more
communal intelligence and even on this matter they are doing a few things
I cannot disclose. They are relevant in area of allowing us to engage some
of our boys, we have three thousand of them now on that scheme earning
between N20,000 for the graduates and N10,000 for the non-graduates and a
number of them let us know what goes on in their various communities. All
Bayelsans should go about their normal lives but this times call for
greater vigilance. A year of two ago we bought gun boats and gave security
forces for patrol. So even if you secure the upland, we still need to
secure the creeks and rivers and working with our young boys, they let us
know from time to time what is going on. Very soon you will hear of a very
massive security review of the water ways.
Question:
What do you think should be the role of Bayelsan youths as far as this
election is concerned?
Gov. Dickson:
As a candidate and as a Governor, I have always solicited the support of
the youths. More than any other time, I will like to call for the
understanding of the youths and encouragement from the youths and support
of the youths. I thank you all youths of the state for your massive show
of support. I was really touched when I saw what our youths put up for my
declaration and as we go round this state to campaign, I expect you all to
turn out en mass and show your vision of a better Bayelsa with us, raise
your concerns. Above all, before, during and after the elections conduct
yourselves with decorum, do not allow any politician to mislead you into
criminality and violence. Our former president used to say ‘my ambition is
not worth the blood of anybody’ and that should be the disposition of
every politician not arming youths and sending them to assassinate and
kidnap people. Politicians who do such are criminals and if that is good
or there is a reward for that they should have brought their children and
relatives not you.
I call on all youths to reason with us and even if you have Issues, raise
them politely so that we can address them together and share ideas on how
we can protect and serve you better.
Thank You Very much my country people for your support, prayer and
encouragement for turning out en mass at my declaration. I cannot thank
you enough, God bless you all! God will bless our great state. I intend to
go round very soon to campaign for your support and for you to stand by us
so that we can stabilise the state because we have to move away from
instability, violence and intolerance. I need your support to do all that.