By Dr Carl Seiyabo

When former President Barack Obama of the United States of America had a tour of African countries while he was President, he told African leaders to build strong institutions and not strong men. The moral of that statement, which is words on marble, simply reminds us of our value systems in terms of leadership and the delivery of dividends of good governance.

Just the same way the late literary icon, Prof. Chinua Achebe, rightly attributed the problem of Nigeria to that of a function of leadership. The two leadership injunctions clearly point to the devastating impact of value failures where premium is placed on distractive idols by building strong men and women, with the expectations to genuflect and pay obeisance for political gratification, rather than erecting strong pillars for good governance and for sustainable development. 

In Bayelsa State, there is a huge paradigm shift in entrenching transparency and good governance since Senator Douye Diri took over as governor. The transparency indicators in terms of budgetary discipline, setting priorities right in project execution and putting in place institutional frameworks are some of the selling points which informed his re-election for a second tenure as governor. Those who have followed the Diri administration, known as the “Prosperity Government” with keen interest, would appreciate the fact that he has developed a model in confronting the developmental challenges of the state.

In spite of the seemingly insurmountable challenges he inherited, he has remained undaunted in tackling the myriads of challenges in all fronts, without engaging in any blame game, an attitude that has become common among leaders by heaping blames on their predecessors.

For Governor Diri, he is not distracted by such pedestrian political considerations, but remained focused on bringing international best practices to bear in the running of the administration. Without any hesitation, immediately he took over as governor, he swung into action by signing into law three bills critical to enthroning a regime of transparency and accountability and providing a launch pad for sustainable development for the good of all Bayelsans. These are the Public Procurement Amendment Bill, Fiscal Responsibility Amendment Bill and the Debt Management Office Bill. 

These bills are essentially to curtail financial profligacy and the common excesses of public officers over procurement conducts and expenditure of public fund. This is a novel and practical effort made by any public officer of the status of governor in contemporary Nigeria.  And this is in making sure that Bayelsa State is placed in an enviable place in the world map of transparency by complying with global best practices in the public sector accounting standards and public administration in general. This is all part of what Obama described as building strong institutions and not strong men and women.

With this model of development, the foreboding of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and calibrating public private partnership process are real as indicators of the transparency and good governance and are visible all over. This is further complemented by budget discipline in the execution of life transforming projects; in compliance with the state Public Procurement Law and that of Fiscal Responsibility Law.

The government also ensures that continuity of projects inherited from his predecessors is faithfully kept. This is to avoid the syndrome of abandoned projects which is common practice in many states due to  political rift or vendetta.

Interestingly, Diri’s bipartisan approach towards redefining the development of Bayelsa State has earned him praises.

In several quarters, Senator Diri has told whoever cares to listen that he is determined to change the development narratives of the state by ensuring that he does not play politics with its development regardless of the political divides. Little wonder, vast majority of the political class and virtually all and sundry describe his re-election as a damning verdict of  acceptability because his government is viewed as one promoting consensus, unity, peace and prosperity.

It is pertinent to mention that in the history of Bayelsa State, there is no administration that has touched the lives of the rural dwellers as much as Diri has done through massive investment in road constructions. For example, it is heart-warming to know that the efforts at completing the much celebrated three Senatorial roads that had been in the drawing board over the years are yielding fruits.

Capturing these Senatorial road projects in the 2024 Budget is evident of the governor’s commitment to budget of continuity and the discipline to complete the projects for the overall benefit of all Bayelsans.

At the Ekeremor-Sagbama axis of the Bayelsa West Senatorial District, about seven bridges have been constructed as part of the road construction to link up riverine communities in the area to the land.

In the Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, works have reached advanced stages, getting to Angiama, Oporoma in the Southern Ijaw riverine area of the state.

At the Bayelsa East Senatorial District, government had long commenced work on the Nembe-Brass Road by mobilising the construction giant, SETRACO NIGERIA LTD with over fifteen billion naira to link up communities in the far high sea areas.

When eventually completed, these roads will enhance the socio-economic lives of these riverine communities by connecting them to the advantages of traveling by land particularly in a state which is 75% percent marine. Definitely it will go a long way to reducing the problem of sea piracy and take advantage of the economic potentials that abound in these areas, particularly given the emerging business investment portfolios in oil and gas.

These are indeed life changing projects which the budget under Diri is leaving no stone unturned to address for the benefit of all Bayelsans.

In addition to that, the State government has so far constructed over seventy roads within the state capital while other roads are in rural areas. This is an uncommon achievement, given the paltry allocation to the state and the harsh environmental challenges of project execution in the riverine region of the state.

In the area of education, government is not resting on its oars in the massive rehabilitation of schools across the nooks and crannies of the state. Today, a greater number of schools are wearing new look. This is in addition to the unprecedented recruitment of teachers to boost the staff strength in the sector.

Also, the state government has built Technical Colleges in the eight council areas to boost technical education and promote economic self-reliance. This is in line with the prosperity mantra of the Diri administration 

This is in addition to massive facelift of all the tertiary institutions in the state, leading to the accreditation of over seventy courses at the state owned Niger Delta University, College of Education, School of Nursing and the Polytechnic.

In the area of electricity, power supply, is not left out. Currently the prosperity government has completed the revamping of a 60MVD transmission substation at Gbarain generation station owned by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) to boost power transmission and distribution in the state.

Besides that is the operational inspection substation by NIPP, which is currently supplying the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH) and the entire Gbarain clan through the efforts of the Diri administration.

In same vein, to overcome the bottleneck of network distribution, the prosperity government aligned itself with the Port Harcourt Distribution Company (PHDC) who are the distribution franchise owners to carry out extensive network strengthening, thereby making the distribution flexible and friendly.

It is against this background, the governor told Bayelsans that; “Bayelsa is still one state. Let us realise that power only comes from God. Whatever is that has angered anyone, let us sheathe the sword in the interest of the state. Let us shun hatred and embrace love, peace and unity. That is when Bayelsa can move forward”

In this critical phase in the  history of development of the state, only a man in the high spirit of a servant leader, determined to entrench transparency, budget discipline and good governance like the way Governor Diri is doing is most needed for the total transformation of the state. Therefore, Governor Diri deserves the support of all in his current efforts at positively repositioning Bayelsa State and changing the narrative for better. 

 * Seiyabo , a Chartered Accountant and Public Affairs Commentator, lives in Yenagoa.