Day Gov Dickson was tried, discharged, acquitted by his people By Soni Daniel. Mr. Henry Seriake Dickson, lawyer and current governor of Bayelsa State has never been docked all his life. If he has ever appeared in court, it was for the sake of his clients, whose briefs he held at one time or the other as a lawyer. Dickson might have also appeared in court to defend issues pertaining to Bayelsa State when he held sway as the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice. That was many years ago. He is now in charge of the oil-rich state as the governor, having been elected and sworn in as the forth democratically elected governor of the state on February 14, 2012. So, in a way, he can be described as the only Valentine’s Day governor in Nigeria because no other Nigerian governor holds such a record. Thus, on a day other Nigerians joined their counterparts to celebrate Love Day, Dickson along with his lieutenants were assembled at the Banquet Hall of the Government House Yenagoa to render account of their stewardship to the people, who elected them into office. It was like a set of students waiting to get the result of their examination at the end of the school session. Anxiety, ecstasy and some elements of surprise had been built up on the faces of the governor and his commissioners, who sat on the front row of the massive building, which had been lavishly decorated and decked in the colours and symbols of the state, which is dubbed, “The Glory of all lands”. Speaker after speaker mounted the rostrum to say their minds about the way Dickson had run the state in the last two years as the governor listened with rapt attention to know if indeed, he had won the hearts of the people or not. Dickson, who was not ruffled at all when his Information Commissioner, Markson Fefegha, spoke glowingly about his brilliant performance in office in the last two years. He was not also moved to adjust his seat and cap as the man reeled out the series of achievements, which he had recorded in just two years. Fefegha had described Dickson as a ‘story changer’ of Bayelsa and a man sent by God to change the development paradigm of the riverine state. Hear him, “God has endowed the state with a human blessing in the person of our dear governor to change the development paradigm of the state in just two years. We have never had it so good. “The governor has rebuilt the confidence of the people of Bayelsa State by restoring hope, enthroning peace and providing steady development that has placed the state on a sound footing. But shortly after Fefegha’s speech, something happened: former Kano State Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, mounted the podium and announced that as a senior citizen and long standing governor for eight years, he had the mandate of the people of the state to ‘judge’ the performance of governor Dickson and give a verdict as to whether he had performed or not. The hall erupted in ‘carry on, carry on! Next, Shekarau reeled out what he called marking scheme for the governor, explaining that as a teacher with many years’ experience, he was well equipped to assess the young governor and pass a damning verdict on him and his administration. At that point, governor Dickson, sat up, adjusted his seat, hat, and glasses and fixed his gaze at the podium where his assessor was standing. Shakarau pointed out that the electoral promises, which Dickson made in 2012 to the people of the state would form the marking scheme for him while the United Nations definition of Good Governance would constitute the curriculum for the examination of the governor. Shekarau, who pointed out that good governance was not determined by the provision of physical facilities alone, reeled out six other areas that a leader must pay attention to if they want to earn the respect of the citizens and approval of God at the end of their stewardship. The former governor said that apart from the physical transformation of a place, good governance also required that the government should make accountability, political stability, anti-corruption measures, effective laws and control and giving voice to the people part and parcel of the administration. After assessing Dickson using the indices provided by the UN on good governance, Shakarau looked at the direction of the governor and his deputy, paused for a while and said, “Now, I am ready to pass my verdict on you and it is important that you pay serious attention to it.” “I want to say that after assessing the governor and his administration using the six indices provided by the UN, I have found out that the governor has performed well and should be given a pass mark,” Shekarau ruled. Another round of clapping and standing ovation followed. The former governor noted that Bayelsa State was indeed lucky to have a governor like Dickson but urged him to learn from the experience of the first two years and do more for the people and take away their challenges. He said any state governor or political appointee who embarks on physical development without paying attention to the welfare of the people would incur the full wrath of God. The former Kano State governor therefore scored Dickson high in the areas of respect for rule of law, siting of people-oriented projects, fiscal regulatory control and anti-corruption. According to him, the performance of any administration will be judged by the “How” and the “Why”. He said: “If the How and Why are not in accordance to God’s law and the peoples benefit, God’s blessing will not be with you. ”The transparency aspect of governance is in accordance with the law of God. All the judgement of God on politicians will be placed on two pillars. It will be that of why and how. If your Why is not godly and your How is not in accordance with the dictate of God, God has no business with you. And your end result may be hell fire. “Therefore, having examined you on all fronts, I hereby declare that you have served your people well and that you should continue to work harder for them and the future generations of Bayelsa State. Dickson, his Deputy, Admiral Gboribiogha Jonah and commissioners engaged in innocuous hugging, and as the hall erupted again in endless jubilation once again. Senator Heineken Lopkpobriri, who spoke on behalf of lawmakers from the state, said that Dickson had made them proud and proved cynics wrong by the exemplary leadership and transparent administration he had championed in the last two years, taking Bayelsa to a new level in the country. “Your emergence as our governor is divine and you have made us proud today. If you are not distracted you will do more for Bayelsa. I urge you all to support the governor to succeed,” the politician prayed. With a positive verdict passed on him, Dickson mounted the podium with confidence and poise and promised to do more for the state in the years ahead. The governor said he was driving a revolution to change Bayelsa for the better so that the present and future generations would be happy with his administration. He said: “I feel excited. It has been an exciting journey so far. Are there challenges? Yes, there are. Are we confronting those challenges? Very well so. Are we hopeful of a difference at the end of my tenure? Yes, there is. “There is already light at the end of the tunnel because people of the state are already seeing the light without getting to the end of the tunnel. Bayelsa has changed and is constantly changing because we are making a modest effort that everybody appreciates. Turning to those who say he has done so much within two years, Dickson said he took that as a compliment but added, “I plead guilty as charged because I am in a hurry to develop the state. The event, which was moderated by ace presenter, Frank Edoho of “Who wants to be a Millionaire” fame, who cracked several jokes to enliven the audience.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Feb 2014 11:41:09 +0000
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