Alamieyeseigha and the Challenges of Bayelsa

By

Christian Ita 

The Niger-Delta region is admitted to be the poorest region in the country in terms of infrastructural development in spite of being the zone which accounts for over 95 percent of the total revenue earnings of the Federal Government. The region is indeed lacking in almost every basic necessity of life.

But amidst this poverty which is generally attributed to the neglect of the area by past successive regimes, there are still states which are better off than others in terms of development. On this scale, Bayelsa is the worst.

Imagine a state with the highest production quota of crude oil production not having a single petrol station. Also imagine a state which is virtually on top of water, yet its residents are dying of taste. This is in summary the reality in Bayelsa state. Health care delivery is almost not available thus reducing the ability of the people to stay a live in the event of a simple bout of malaria attack.

Unable to tie a link between resource endowment and want, the youths of the state resorted to violence as a way of getting the Federal Government to reverse the trend.

It was in the heat of youth unrest that the present civilian administration of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha came into being. The primary concern of the government was to do its best towards the upliftment of the standard of living of the people.

This much he stated while swearing in new special advisers recently. According to him, "the good people of Bayelsa State have given this administration a sacred mandate to improve their living standard and restore their self esteem. You must understand that we cannot fall short of the high expectation".

However, to achieve this set objective for which the Governor was even elected into office, the administration had to contend with the terrain, which the Federal Government said was partly responsible for the non existence of accessible roads in the state.

With the resolve to ensure that he delivers on his electoral promises irrespective of the obvious difficult terrain, the state government went into an agreement with some foreign firms to assist it in planning, designing and constructing Yenagoa, the state capital.

This however meant that the state would spend about twice what it would cost to construct say a one kilo metre of road in another state. In the construction of the General Hospital for instance, the state government had to spend about an additional N500 million in sand filling and piling the cite of the construction work.

Also overwhelmed by the problem of acute shortage of portable drinking water, the government committed about N300 million naira for the expansion of the Yenagoa waterworks. The first phase of the project completed at the beginning of the year has already been test run.

Depending solely on power supply from the kolo Creek/Nun River Gas Turbine, the state, which is yet to be connected to the national grid suffered a power failure that lasted well over two weeks. This was as a result of the break down of the Gas Turbine. The state government rose to the challenge by not only reactivating the broken Turbine, but also building a new one which was commissioned by President Olusegun Obasanjo during his official visit to the state.

The government has also not been doing badly in other areas. But the achievements so far recorded could not be if the youths of the area had continued in their campaign of violence. Though, details of how he was able to dissuade the youths against violence could not be ascertained, it is however apparent that violence is no longer the other of the day. The peaceful atmosphere contributed to achievement so far recorded.

This fragile peace was however shattered when a bomb ripped through the state House of Assembly, climaxing political power play in the state. The House, then under the leadership of Lokpobiri had reportedly served an impeachment notice on the state governor who at that time was said to have expressed worry over the expenditure profile of the House. In a swift but ironic move, Lokpobiri, who was the political son of the governor was impeached. An action which tend to suggest that the notice of impeachment on the governor came from Lokpobiri and not the House.

The new leadership has given filip to this position when last week the House dissociated itself from the alleged impeachment notice. Lokpobiri, it seems, embarked on an ego trip, which unfortunately has now consumed him. Or how else could one explain his impeachment by his colleagues a few days after serving the porpurted impeachment notice which they were supposed to have approved of or was he sold a dummy or betrayed by them ?

In a statement signed by the new speaker, Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi, the House denied complete knowledge of the said notice as it was neither received nor brought before the House for consideration.

Describing the notice as "non-existent, untrue and totally false and should be disregarded and ignored", the Assembly said the rumour "is the handy work of persons who do not wish Bayelsa State well".

The incidence of the bomb blast which many have described as a sad reminder of our past was not only capable of setting backward, the progress so far recorded in the state in terms of development, it poses a security problem in the state.

It is a wrong signal to the youths of the state, who must not be given the impression that violence, which was their forth in the past was after all an accepted means of sorting out political differences.

Certainly, Alameiyeseigha, who is believed to have gone beyond the call of duty in his determination to give meaning to the lives of the people of the state, would find it most difficult to function if peace ceases to exist.