INFRASTRUCTURAL development is one of the major components of economic growth of a developing nation.

Leadership at all levels of government places premium on infrastructural development as it creates the enabling environment to stimulate business and industrial activities which in turn enhances productivity, check undue rise in cost of  operation, employment generation and as well as poverty reduction.

Good governance to the average citizen of a developed or developing nation is all about provision of social amenities at affordable rates, meaningful and long lasting development. And, to achieve this, the leadership must be prepared to tackle the challenges of basic infrastructural needs of the citizenry.

Some of these basic amenities include efficient, stable and reliable power supply, safe and potable water, functional public transportation system, effective communication system, functional and affordable healthcare and educational facilities.

Irked by the age-long infrastructural decay in the oil rich BayelsaState, Governor Seriake Dickson on assumption of office on February 14, 2012 officially declared a State of Emergence, especially in the education and other critical sectors of the economy.

Created in 1996, the issue of security in the state has been of great concern to successive administrations in the state. The Internally Generated Revenue of the State nose-dived on daily basis as efforts at attracting investors hardly produced the desired results, largely due to insecurity and the chaotic situation in the State, among others.

Local and foreign investors never saw Bayelsa as a safe and viable investment destination. The State was always in the news for the wrong reasons. It was either rival cult wars, kidnapping of mainly expatriate workers of multi-national companies, illegal oil bunkering, financial fraud, and other related vices.

In order to tackle this problem and make the State investment friendly, Governor Dickson, a former security operative, put in place a State security outfit code named: “Operation Doo Akpor” to checkmate the activities of criminals in and outside the state capital.

This decision is paying off, as night life has gradually returned to Yenagoa, the State capital.  The heartwarming news is that investors, local and foreign, are now jostling to invest in the State.  The Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Colonel Bernard Kenebai (rtd) said with the security gadgets and personnel put in place by the Governor Dickson-led administration, the State is no longer a safe haven for criminals.

In the last one year, the operatives of the security outfit “Operation Doo Akpor” has arrested over 600 suspected criminals and handed them over to the appropriate security agency for further interrogation and prosecution in accordance with the law. This, according to political pundits and economic watchers, is a rare feat that should be consolidated upon.

Prior to the advent of the present administration, the security officer submitted that there were high incidents of criminal activities in urban and other metropolitan cities of the state. “Our water ways, then, were no longer safe as there were reported cases of sea piracy and other related vices. We appreciate the fact that the incidents were not peculiar to BayelsaState alone but unique in some sense.

The impact of a state of insecurity is quite obvious. Criminals were taking institutions of government in open confrontations. There were reported cases of kidnapping, assassinations and the activities of some purported amnesty agitators.

However, with the installation of TETRA Trunk radio, the first of its kind in the West Africa sub-region and purchase of over 85 patrol vehicles and 15 patrol boats, the residents of the State can now sleep with their two eyes closed.

Also, as part of security measures put in place, the government has built 13 Emergency Response Centres in some designated areas of the state. The areas are: Oloibiri, Ogbia town, Opume, Otuabagi junction, Emeyal 1/Otuoke junction and Otuasega/Shell camp junction.

Other areas are: Onuebum, Agbura, Okaki/Yenegwe junction, Igbogene/Okolobiri/Glory Drive round about, Okordia-Zarama market and Opokuma and Sagbama junctions.

With adequate security put in place, Governor Dickson has turned the entire state to a massive construction site with work on 41 roads, 75 blocks low cost housing estate, civil servants quarters, building of model secondary schools in the three senatorial zones, commencement of work on a 500 bed hospital, world class referral centre, the three senatorial districts roads, Transparency building, five-star hotel, four secretariat annexes, Multi-Door Court House, Governor’s lodge in Yenagoa, Sagbama and Nembe.

Conducting newsmen round some of the project sites, State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ewrudjakpor said: “When we took over, there was nothing to write home about and that is why the Governor was eager to develop the state. All the on-going projects as well as the ones earmarked for construction would be completed within the tenure of the present administration.

“The Government embarked on this massive construction of projects because BayelsaState is backwards in terms of physical development compared to its contemporaries, especialy in the Southern part of the country.

“Therefore, the target of this administration is to restore the lost glory of the state and to be able to catch up with the rest.

“Also, the government has invested over N4bn in rural electrification projects with the award of over 23 contracts which include Obunagha-Sagbama 33KVA line, extension to Ofoni community through Ebedebiri, Bolou Orua, Angiama and Toru Orua 2 by 7.5 MVA injection sub-station; Agbere-Odoni, 1000KVA gas fired CAT generating station, including cabling, upgrading and modification of Angiama sub station to import electricity to communities in Southern Ijaw local government area among others”.

Mr.  SOJI AJIBOLA, is Media Aide to the Bayelsa State governor.