Bayelsa Still Up the Creek

Bayelsa: Still Up the Creek

Bayelsa, a riverine state enveloped by a large body of water reaching from the sea is, figuratively speaking, up the creek. The state is swimming in an ocean of trouble. Its seat of power, a complex of presidential and government lodges called Creek Haven, has become an ironic metaphor. Rather than symbolise calm and safety, it has turned out to be a troubled harbour.

But Bayelsa did not begin this journey on a note of infamy. When the present democratic dispensation started a little over two years ago, the state was still basking in innocence. It was one of the states which, owing to their newness, never experienced civil rule. Consequently, the state had no democratic history. It had no experience to fall back on.

Given the fact that Bayelsans were excited when the late General Sani Abacha gave them a state of their own in 1996, they saw the advent of civil rule as an opportunity to develop their state. This dream was symbolised by a man called Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha popularly known as DSP.

As a typical Bayelsan, the man had the interest of his young state at heart. When, therefore, he became the governor of the state on May 29, 2001, he did the unusual. In his unsuspecting innocence, he signed into law what is today known as Bayelsa State House of Assembly Self-Accounting Law 1999. The law was meant to ensure the financial independence of the State House of Assembly. This was the approach of a man who did not set out to muzzle the legislature. He wanted to give the Assembly of the people's representatives a free hand to operate. The overall aim was to encourage accelerated development. Through it and with it, the Assembly was supposed to undertake some development projects on its own.

Ordinarily, the Self-Accounting law runs against the grain of the 1999 Constitution considering the fact that a State House of Assembly has no constitutional power to award contracts of capital nature. This notwithstanding, Alamieyeseigha adopted it for the sake of convenience. He thought it would suit the peculiar circumstances of the state. On the strength of this, the state set sail.

Soon afterwards however, distractions set in. Power play began to take its toll on a once united house. But before it blew open, something called Odi assaulted the sobriety of the state. Following the dawn of a new era, ethnic nationalists had taken liberties. Bayelsa, somehow, came to be the hotbed of the Niger Delta agitation for the well-being of its people. But the overzealousness of the youth soon went soar. They confronted police authorities in the state, killing about 12 of them. The reprisal visited on them led to the destruction of the sleepy town called Odi.

This was DSP's first major test as governor. Many thought he would fall out with the federal authorities on account of this. He did not. Rather, he took a realistic view of the situation, making pronouncements that would calm rather than exacerbate the situation. When I met him at a public function this January, DSP spoke calmly about the Odi incident. He said he still reposed a lot of confidence in President Olusegun Obasanjo in spite of Odi.. With this pacifist approach, the governor has maintained a cordial relationship with the federal government while working towards getting Abuja to rebuild Odi.

But issues arising from Odi are not, strictly speaking, for Bayelsans only. They are a challenge to the entire Nigeria. Many have therefore spoken out in favour of the reconstruction of the town by the federal government.

However, a brand new headache has crept into the affairs of the state. The power play which began with the powers the House of Assembly sought to arrogate to itself has snowballed into an open air drama. The Self-Accounting Law which was meant to increase the tempo of development in the state has, unfortunately, become a source of distemper.

Concerned Bayelsans had woken to the fraud which they said the House of Assembly under the former Speaker, Heineken October Lokpobiri, represented. They had drawn attention to the squandermania going on at the legislature. Cries of accountability were to rent the air later. But the startling discovery was that in spite of the whopping two billion naira released to the Assembly between 1999 and May 2001, no major project had been undertaken. Yet, the fund could not be accounted for.

Expectedly, eyebrows were raised. The governor, for once, began to notice the folly in abdicating part of his responsibility. The attempt to clip the wings of a Speaker who had, obviously, become very ambitious was met with resistance. The House got divided. While Lokpobiri controlled one faction, DSP commanded the loyalty of the other. Each made moves to impeach the head of the other. It is no longer new that Lokpobiri lost the battle. But that was not without consequences to the peace of the state. The explosion which rocked the House of Assembly on June 10, 2001 was the highpoint of the battle for the soul of Bayelsa.

The National Executive of the People's Democratic Party has since expelled Lokpobiri for acts of gangsterism and related offences. But Bayelsa is yet to know peace. The state is yet to cross the proverbial Rubicon. Lokpobiri's threat to make the state ungovernable is manifesting in a number of ways. Prominent among them is the allegation of financial crimes levelled against the governor. Before Lokpobiri was impeached, he had listed some 50 impeachable offences against DSP, ranging from gross misconduct to extra-budgetary expenditures. So far, there is no evidence to hold the governor liable. In fact, the state House of Assembly has cleared him of the charges.

Yet, the trouble is far from over. Lokpobiri and his loyalists are insisting on a pound of flesh. They want the governor probed. The atmosphere in the state is unsettled over accusations and counter accusations. The situation is regrettable especially for a state which is roundly and squarely backward. Given its peculiar environmental circumstances, Bayelsans ought to focus their attention on how to develop their state. This is what Governor Alamieyeseigha set out to do. He has made some remarkable progress so far.

For a state like Bayelsa which is not connected to the national grid, the government in Yenagoa has undertaken to generate and distribute its own power from its own turbine plant. This is necessary if the state hopes to open up. No investor would want to do business in a state where basic infrastructure are lacking. But the state is making a headway.

New and old generation banks have been encouraged to move in. That has changed the face of Yenagoa, the state capital. Since the town has assumed a new status, it has become imperative to reclaim the vast hectares of mangrove swamp through aggressive land filling. This is in addition to checking the perennial ocean surge.

But the real danger lurking in the shadows is the pursuit of vendetta. But Bayelsans must rise above this pettiness. That is the only way Governor Alamieyeseigha will consolidate on the democratic gains made so far.

November 2001