Any time the name of Bayelsa State is mentioned, it evokes the image of oil and gas. Most people believe that nothing grows in Bayelsa because of high deposits of petroleum resources and massive exploration and exploitation of crude oil and gas.
But the colonial masters saw something different from oil and gas. They saw vast arable land. Their report about the economic potential of the state expressly stated that Bayelsa alone was capable of feeding the entire West African countries.
What then happened to Bayelsa? There is no gainsaying that the state saw oil and gas and abandoned its agricultural potential. Successive administrations depended solely on oil and gas as their cash cow. They were blind to the report of the colonial masters. They only wanted petrol dollars.
Indeed, the state suffered huge setback in food production. It could not produce its food and depended largely on food brought from neighbouring states especially from the northern part of the country. Little wonder food items cost fortunes in Bayelsa.
However, things are changing for good. There has been significant quantum leap away from the docility of the past. Many people attributed the radical shift to the policies, projects and programmes of the present administration of Governor Seriake Dickson. In fact, Bayelsa now has more farmers than oil and gas contractors.
The recently-concluded inter-ministerial briefing which heralded the 6th anniversary of Dickson’s government was an eye-opener. Persons, who came with doubts to the venue of the programme, left with conviction that the administration was making progressive inroad in the world of agriculture.
In fact, Commissioner for Information and Orientation Daniel Iworiso-Markson took his time to point out the pluses and Dickson’s enduring footprints in the sector. It became obvious that with the attention currently paid in the sector, Bayelsa is set to begin export of rice, fish, starch, cassava flour and other items to other states and countries.
He said one of the reasons Dickson faced agriculture was to increase its Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) and reduce the state’s over-dependence on federal allocations.
Iworiso-Markson said: “Agriculture is one of the sectors that commanded priority in the Dickson administration. In the past six years, the administration has made sustained efforts to make strategic investments in the agricultural sector with the aim of putting Bayelsa on the path of solid economic productivity.
“A visionary leader who would always opt to explore fresh opportunities for the development of Bayelsa and the welfare of her citizens, Dickson did not hide his concern over the massive implications of the state’s sole dependence on allocations from the Federation Account.
“The governor found it disturbing at inception that the internally-generated revenue of Bayelsa State, the hub of the nation’s oil economy, was a paltry N50 million per month on the average.
“Although, the administration has adopted measures to jerk up the State’s IGR to between N500 million and N800million per month, Dickson’s solution to the sole dependence on federal allocations from the oil economy was a well planned revolution in agriculture.
“Armed with the belief that agriculture was the only solution to the harsh economic realities confronting most states across the country, Dickson devoted valued attention to agriculture.
“The mission is to create a strong, diversified economy through investments in agriculture, tourism, and power in Bayelsa. The Administration exploited the vast opportunities offered by this sector that holds the key to economic prosperity in the state outside of oil.”
He said the governor discovered the state’s comparative advantage for large-scale production rice, palm produce, aquaculture banana, plantain, cassava and vegetables. The information commissioner explained that the government invested in mega aquaculture projects in partnership with two Israeli companies. He said the partnership was expected to produce 3000tons of fish annually.
On rice production, he said: “The government also took steps to effectively exploit the opportunities offered by the Bayelsa vegetation which is suitable for three cycles of rice production. Expectedly, the state under Dickson, ventured into Rice production and the outcome is the high quality Restoration brand of rice owned by the government.
“It is to the credit of the visionary leadership provided by governor Dickson and his unflinching commitment to agriculture that Bayelsa has 4,000 hectares of rice farm at Peremabiri; 5,000 hectares at Isampor and 2,000 hectares at Kolo.
“With the well planned investments in rice production and the quality attention given to the Agriculture sector, it is incontrovertible that Bayelsa has the capacity to grow and produce the rice that will feed Nigeria, West Africa and for export oversea. The solution to the capital flight that goes into the importations of millions of tones of rice in Nigeria every years lies in the rice farms of Bayelsa!”
Speaking on other collaborative measures of the governor, Iworiso-Markson said: “The Dickson Administration also ventured into collaborative investments with credible partners in the bid to promote investments in the Agriculture sector.
“The government partnered with Ostertrade Engineering and ManufacturingKFT/DPP International APS, a Hungarian/Danish consortium, to establish a cassava starch processing plant with a capacity to produce 600 tons of industrial starch per annum and an out growers scheme of 600 hectares cassava farm.
“In readiness for the massive agricultural activities expected from this multi billion Naira investment, the state has concluded a seed multiplication farm on a 40 hectares land at Ebedbiri for the cassava farm.”
The commissioner said the Ebedebiri Cassava farm was another big ticket project that would deliver 30 million tonnes of starch annually. He described the cassava project as the biggest in the country adding that Bayesla contributed to save hundreds of millions of dollars expended annually to import starch for industrial purposes. He also mentioned the Integrated Poultry at Ebedebiri, as another star project being undertaken by the state government.
