It was once a rustic setting. Typical of many neglected riverside communities in the Niger Delta, it lacked basic amenities. No road, hospitals and electricity. In fact, nobody could access the community by road.
But now, the story of Toru-Orua, a community in Sagbama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, has changed. The community that used to be in darkness has now seen the light. Its slum-like past is fast-disappearing.
Aesthetically finished houses are replacing mud and thatched buildings that hitherto dotted all corners of the community. The small community, once buried in Sagbama creeks and known for fishing and farming, is, indeed, an emerging city.
Toru-Orua (meaning community by the river) is the ancestral home of the current Governor of the state, Mr. Seriake Dickson. The governor who is fondly referred to as the Countryman Governor has become the pride of Toru-Orua.
No wonder, the community trooped out to welcome its son when he along with his entourage inaugurated and inspected some projects in the area recently as part of the activities marking the mid-term anniversary of his administration.
Men, women, the young and the old came out to receive or perhaps peep at the man who has changed the face of the community. At the entrance of the community, the crowd waved continuously at the governor and shouted his name stridently. Most of them expressed their satisfaction through placards and banners containing messages of love and support.
They were happy that people could drive their vehicles to the community for the first time.”Before now, there was no road leading to our community. Getting to our place was a tug of war. First, you make the journey halfway by road and complete it by either trekking some kilometers through the bush path or boarding a boat at the waterside”, a community folk who identified himself as John said.
He continued: “Now, our story has changed. We can now buy cars and drive them to our community. It is not because the governor is from our area. It is simply because Governor Seriake Dickson has a passion and uncommon drive for development. We have had a governor in this state who did nothing for his community and could not boast of doing much for the state”.
John is right. Dickson has transformed Toru-Orua. All the internal roads in the community spanning about 2.5km have been reconstructed and tarred.
The governor who was accompanied by his deputy, Retired Rear Admiral John Jonah, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Edmond Alison-Oguru and other members of the state Executive Council, cut the tape to unveil the roads.
Dickson, who also inaugurated rural electrification, 25 bedroom-flat apartments and a hospital in Toru-Orua, inspected other ongoing projects, such as the Sagbama-Ekeremor and Toru Orua-Angalabiri roads.
“It is good to be in power and know how to use it to assist the people. Dickson has done very well for us and we can never forget him. Nobody had envisaged that Toru-Orua will be this transformed today”, a woman, who gave her name as Agnes, said.
The governor also has his magic touch in neighbouring communities to Toru-Orua. In Bolou Orua, he inspected the Teachers’ Training Institute (TTI) and community secondary school buildings. At Ebedebiri, Dickson inspected two hostel blocks at the secondary school.
In fact, the governor’s developmental stride is not just about his community. Sagbama, one of the oldest town in the state, now boast of a number of projects. Niger Delta Reports found that a general hospital, College of Education and a community secondary school are at different levels of completion. The Governor’s Lodge, which has been built, decorated and furnished in the area, was inaugurated by Dickson.
Dickson said the TTI at Bulou Orua would be affiliated to the department of continuing education of the state-owned Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro College of Education, Sagbama.
Also the people of Kaiama, the capital of Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area and hometown of the Ijaw hero, late Jasper Adaka Boro, will remember the governor with fond memories if he completes a model secondary school, a general hospital, Boro Town Access Road, Youth Training Centre and Boro Institute in that area.
Already, the town will soon be a proud owner of the best state-of-the-art Orientation Camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). In fact, every community in the state appears to feel the pulse of the governor. For instance, there is an ambitious sports academy under construction at Aswama, in Kolokuma/Opokuma council.
Dickson has also initiated many projects in Yenagoa and completed a few of them. Bayelsa Fountain, Ecumenical Centre, International Park, School of Tourism, AIT-Sani Abacha Road, AIT-Igbogene Road, Opolo-Elebele Road, Command and Control Centre and about 35 others are all projects in Yenagoa.
While inaugurating Yenagoa gateway infratsructure comprising security posts, water fountain and other structures at Igbogene, Dickson, said the facilities were designed to improve the security and add to the aesthetic beauty of the state.
He said: “The water fountain and the associated structures here are essentially security buildings; they are not buildings that members of the public will have access to at least not on a regular basis. They are to complement our Integrated Command and Control System.
“And this being an entry and exit point, these buildings are going to be very useful. The fountain itself is very wonderful and it is going to add to the aesthetics of our state capital and the state generally. And, I know we are going to have such fountains.
He said most of the completed projects would be inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan during his planned working visit to the state at a date to be announced soon.
Undoubtedly, the governor has received accolades from various sections of the polity. The Paramount Ruler of Bolou Orua community, Chief Felagha Tounarigha described Dickson as a performer and expressed satisfaction with the massive transformation of infrastructure in the state.
The former Governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau and Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District, were amazed at the performance of the governor after two years.
Shekarau based his assessment on the United Nations and World Bank’s six characteristics of development. He said Dickson had been able to justify the confidence reposed in him by the people of the state.
He said Dickson had excelled in accountability, political stability, effectiveness of government, regulatory control, rule of law and control of corruption.
“I honestly do not have enough words to say how happy I am to congratulate the Governor, his deputy and other members of his team for institutionalising the culture of speaking out how much money comes in and how it is spent.
Lokpobiri, who spoke on behalf of the Bayelsa Caucus in the National Assembly, noted that Dickson’s stint in the National assembly has sharpened his leadership skills and enhanced his revolutionary achievements. He said the governor had proved skeptics wrong.
He observed that his strides would prove to be a campaign weapon for his reelection. “I want to congratulate you for what you are doing here in the state. And I believe that even your worst enemy will agree that you are doing excellently well.
“We have always had abiding confidence in you as members of the National Assembly, we decided to agree that you should come back home so that Nigerians will get to appreciate what the National Assembly can make of anybody. You were there for five years and that has improved your mental and leadership capacity which you are exhibiting”, he said.
Applauding the governor’s leadership style of inclusiveness, he called for synergy between the State Government and members of the National Assembly. He urged the people of the state to support the present administration to record what he described as “more success stories” rather than distracting him.
Also, the Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Konbowei Benson Friday, on behalf of the state legislature, further expressed satisfaction with what he described as the laudable achievements of the Dickson-led administration.
He describing the last 24 months of the restoration government as very eventful. “The proactive leadership style of the governor has inspired members of the state house of assembly to put in extra legislative hours, when such needs arise, in a bid to encourage the state chief executive to do more.
“The evidence of good governance, accountability, probity and transparency, under Governor Dickson, has become so visible to all sundry, such that even the opposition, cannot contest the achievements of the present administration in the state.
“The people of the state and indeed, Ijaws have become very proud in identifying with rapid infrastructural development, going on in Bayelsa state, under the restoration government,” he said.
