The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Francis Agbo

  • Dickson hails Muslims for sustaining peace in Bayelsa

    Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has commended the Muslim community for keeping the peace in the state.

    Dickson encouraged the Muslims living in different parts of the state especially in Yenagoa, the state capital, to remain law abiding and ensure harmonious and peaceful co-existence in their conducts.

    A statement signed by Dickson’s Chief Press Secretary, Francis Agbo, said the governor spoke in Yenagoa when members of the Islamic Affairs, led by its President, Alhaji Yakubu Otobo paid him a courtesy visit in Government House.

    The governor maintained Bayelsa remained home to all Nigerians regardless of their ethno-religious and political differences.

    He urged the people of the state to cooperate with law enforcement agencies by providing useful information on the activities of criminals insisting that it was the collective responsibility of everyone to promote peace and stability.

    Dickson observed that, there had not been any major incident of conflict involving the Muslims in the state and appealed to them to sustain the prevailing peace.

    Responding to their request for sponsorship to holy pilgrimage, the  explained that his government currently lacked the financial capacity to sponsor, both intending Christian and Muslim pilgrims to the holy lands.

    He, however, promised that in no distant time, the government would institute a policy to support churches, mosques, organizations and the private sector for their pilgrimages.

    Addressing the Muslims, he said: “I want to commend all of you; I want to say that, we are happy with the moslem community in this state. Let me commend all of you for the peaceful way you have been going about your activities so far. 

    “In this state, we have not had challenges; we have not had negative reports about the conduct of our moslem brothers and sisters and so you all deserve a round of applause. I want to request that you keep it that way.

    “The government of Bayelsa state is a government for all people. All Nigerians and all human beings, who live in Bayelsa state. In this state, I have said it over and over again that everybody who is here is a Bayelsan irrespective of where you come from and feel free to practice your religion and carry on with your business but you to respect and abide by the laws of this country and the laws of this state.

    Read Also: Court stops swearing-in of new Imo deputy Governor

    “I urge you to continue to work closely with our security leaders and they are on to listen to you to get information from you about activities of people who want to create problems in this peaceful state. 

    “Those from other places who may want to come here and hide under any guise to create any problem, we call on you, just as we call on all residents of Bayelsa to identify them; people whose mission and livelihoods are suspicious, let us know. The security agencies are there to work with you quietly to fish out any bad egg.

    “We want to work with all of you, with all leaders of state, both Christians as well as Muslims to ensure that the peace and stability that we have worked hard to establish continues to remain.” I want to use this opportunity to congratulate all of you for going through your religious obligation in the holy month of Ramadan.”

    Earlier in his remarks, the President of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA), Bayelsa State chapter, Alhaji Yakubu Otobo, commended Dickson for his visionary leadership and dogged commitment to the development of the state, especially in the areas of education, security, infrastructure and other key sectors of the economy.

    Otobo also expressed appreciation to the government on its policies and programmes, particularly as they affected non indigenes in Bayelsa, which he noted, gave them a sense of belonging, since the inception of his administration.

    He prayed God to grant Dickson and his team the wisdom, strength and goodwill to steer the ship of state to greater heights.

    He also solicited the state government’s assistance in the provision of a bus for the chapter, which the Governor granted.

  • 13% derivation not enough to develop Niger Delta – Dickson

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson on Tuesday said the 13% derivation principle was a mockery of the yearnings and aspirations of the people of the Niger Delta.

    The governor said the 13 percent derivation was not enough to develop the Niger Delta region.

    A statement issued by Dickson’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Francis Agbo said the governor spoke on Tuesday during a live media chat in Ijaw language in Government House Yenagoa.

    The governor argued that only restructuring would guarantee sustainable peace, stability and development in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country.

    He lamented that the people of the region particularly the Ijaws were being treated as second class citizens in the country, as their resources were exploited by the Federal Government and its agencies.

    He said: “I have said it time and time again that the 13% derivation  they are giving to us can never be enough to tackle our development needs at the pace we want. And that, restructuring is the only veritable means to achieve sustainable peace, stability and prosperity not only in this our region but throughout the country.

    Read Also: Dickson orders arrest of LG official

    “For how long will the Federal Government and indeed all the supporters of this great injustice continue to treat us as slaves? What they call oil blocs are our ancestral lands but we are the people that are excluded from the ownership and use of this our God-given property.

    “Take Bayelsa, for instance, where the Federal Government is doing almost nothing to support our development effort. We are the ones building all our schools, hospitals, roads and bridges to link our communities in this state. Is that fair?

    “That is why I expect every right thinking Ijaw or Niger Delta person and true Nigerians to support our clamour for restructuring because that is the right thing to do so that every part of our country will have a sense of belonging.”

    On the ongoing state public service reforms, the governor restated the need for  Bayelsans to discountenance the propaganda and blackmail orchestrated by detractors, stressing that no genuine worker would be adversely affected.

    He said through continuous verification and other measures, his administration pruned down the over bloated wage bill of about N6bn  it inherited at inception of his government  to N3.8bn at the end of last month.

    Dickson who urged the people not to see civil service as the best occupation, assured them of government preparedness to assist them go into commerce and other private businesses, which he noted, are more lucrative.

    He called for more support and prayers for the success of the reforms and other programmes adding that he had directed the appropriate government officials to announce the commencement of the recruitment of 1000 graduates into the public service by next week.

    Dickso assured Bayelsans of fairness and transparency in the recruitment process.

    The governor asked the public to report any government official who indulges in nepotism and other sharp practices that would jeopardize his administration’s goal of leaving behind an efficient and result-oriented civil service.

  • Riot: Dickson to meet with leaders of varsity community

    APC, PDP trade words 

     

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has scheduled a meeting with leaders of of Amassoma, host community to the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU) following a violent protest that claimed some lives and injured others in the area.

    Dickson in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Francis Agbo, said the meeting was sequel to the unfortunate and avoidable destruction of public and private property, the breakdown of law and order, as well as the reported loss of lives in Amassoma.

    He named persons invited to attend the meeting as the Ibenanaowei of Ogboin Kingdom and his Council of Chiefs, the Amananaowei of Amassoma and his Council of Chiefs, representatives of the Community Development Committee (CDC) and a select leaders of the Amassoma community, including the women and youth leaders.

    The statement warned that late comers would not be allowed into the venue of the parley scheduled for May 25 at the Governor’s Conference Hall in Government House, Yenagoa.

    But the People’s Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress (APC) continued to attack each other following the violence in NDU.

    PDP accused the APC of plotting to destroy the NDU, a legacy  of late forner Governor Diepreye Alamiyeiseigha.

    The PDP alleged that the opposition party in the state was  a band of cultists, mischief makers and unscrupulous elements masquerading as party members.

    The PDP said that the Bayelsa APC hounded the pioneer civilian governor of the state, Alamieyeseigha to his untimely death and was planting insecurity in his community to destroy his biggest legacy.

    The state Chairman of the PDP, Chief Moses Cleopas, said in a statement that declaration by the APC that the attackers of security operatives deployed to maintain peace and security in the NDU were their party officials only exposed the APC as a party of criminals.

    Read Also: 2019: Dickson seeks restraint in use of power

    Cleopas said that the APC statement showed that the party organized and sponsored the hoodlums and cultists who unleashed unprovoked mayhem on security operatives, the people of Amassoma and the Niger Delta University on Tuesday.

    He lamented that an APC faction hijacked complaints emanating from the ongoing implementation of the public sector reforms to cause mayhem in the community and the university in a failed bid to discredit the PDP government in the state.

    The PDP Chairman said that it amounted to sheer absurdity for the APC faction to mastermind attacks on the university because of the decision of its governing council and management to retire personnel most of who are between the ages of 65, 70 80 and above.

    But the APC in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary-elect, Doifie Buokoribo condemned as callous the attempts by the PDP-led government to justify the killing of protesters by the police in Amassoma on the excuse that the victims were cultists and hoodlums.

    APC queried the criteria adopted by the government to designate people as criminals and extra-judicially direct their killing.

    The party said the government by the statement and its attitude to the killings “simply confirmed our belief that ‘the victims were deliberately targeted in a way that shows he is completely destitute of human feeling”.

    The party said Dickson’s deceptive statement on the Amassoma killings ran contrary to every news report on the incident, stressing that no amount of lies could wash off the blood of the victims on the government’s hands.

    The statement said: “After a lot of twisting and turning, PDP on Wednesday acknowledged the truth that those it sent the police to shoot and kill in Amassoma were protesters.

    “But unable to find a reasonable ground for its act, PDP lied that the victims were cultists and hoodlums. The Nigeria Police in Bayelsa contradicted the government’s account in its statement on Wednesday, when it maintained that what they met in Amassoma were a crowd of protesters.

    “What we do know is that under our laws, the people have an inalienable right to peaceful agitation, a right which the residents of Amassoma were exercising on that black Tuesday when they were mowed down by the police.

    “All major news reports that day on the incident confirm this. The government attempt to justify the killing of the protesters is the height of callousness against the very people he claims to have the mandate to protect and provide for. No amount of lies can cleanse the blood of the victims on his hands.

    “The government’s position that the people must die because they are APC members also runs against moral and democratic thinking. It has simply confirmed our belief that ‘the victims were deliberately targeted in a way that shows a complete lack of emotion”.

  • Dickson calls for bi-partisan approach to restructuring Nigeria

    Dickson calls for bi-partisan approach to restructuring Nigeria

    Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa has urged the Federal Government to set up a bi-partisan body to develop framework for the restructuring of the country.

    Dickson in statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Francis Agbo on Monday in Yenagoa, said restructuring debate should cut across party lines as the issues at stake were relevant and fundamental.

    He said the bi-partisan body should consist of federal officials, political parties, governors, state and national assemblies, organised labour, socio-cultural organizations and other critical stakeholders.

    The governor also advised President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently take steps to unite country as the nation go through a difficult phase in its history.

    Dickson believes that proponents of restructuring “are true patriots”, adding that the National Assembly alone would not be able to amend the Constitution sufficiently to address concerns and fears of Nigerians.

    “The present attitude of the Federal Government and the President on the issue of restructuring is something I disagree with.

    “I believe that this country has to have a meeting and discuss how we can make Nigeria more stable, prosperous and a Nigeria that can last and stand the test of time.

    “Those of us talking about restructuring are the true lovers of this country. There are those who feel they have advantages they want to protect and preserve, so they want the status quo maintained.

    “In that case, you are either talking about individual, regional or ethnic interests, so such people are not talking of the Nigerian interest.

    “Those of us calling for restructuring are protecting and preserving Nigeria’s corporate interest. The buck stops at the table of Mr. President. He has got to rise up to the occasion and unify this country more.

    “The country is too divided and left to drift for too long with this division. The division is getting deeper and deeper by the day and that is not good for the country we love.

    “Nobody should tell anybody in Bayelsa or any Ijaw or Niger Delta man that they love Nigeria more than us.

    “They don’t even understand the sacrifices we are making to keep Nigeria going. So, when we talk about restructuring, we are talking as Nigerian patriots.” Dickson stated.

    NAN

  • Ijaw people most marginalised, says Dickson

    Ijaw people most marginalised, says Dickson

    The Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, has described Ijaw people of the Niger Delta as the most unfairly treated in the entire country.

    Dickson in a statement signed Monday by his new Chief Press Secretary, Mr, Francis Agbo, spoke when the Roland Oweilaemi-led Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) visited him in his office in Yenagoa.

    He asked the youths to continue projecting issues of economic marginalisation and environmental pollution affecting the region.

    Dickson urged them to collaborate with the government in addressing the age-long problems of underdevelopment of the Ijaw nation by successive administrations at the federal level.

    He said: “The Ijaw nation is oppressed in Nigeria, and those of us in positions should fight and protect the Ijaw interest. The weapons and strategy for the struggle must change.

    “For 60 years, there is no road to Bonny and Brass, where crude oil is lifted daily. No airport in the Ijaw nation, no oil company operating in the state pays taxes to contribute to the economy.

    “The IYC must continue to raise the legitimate issues without fear of intimidation. I expect you to mobilise and raise the consciousness of the people about the precarious situation we are in”, said the Governor.

    He lamented the state of the region despite its huge contributions to the economic growth of the nation.

    He called on political leaders and persons in positions of trust to protect the collective interest of the Ijaw people.

    But Dickson said that the struggle to emancipate the Ijaw nation was no longer about carrying weapons, “but through intellectual and persuasive means”.

    The governor regretted that there were no boarding schools and functional hospitals in Bayelsa after 20 years of its creation until his administration came and changed the narrative.

    He also appealed to the youths to shun all forms of vices, including cultism and drug abuse.

    Earlier, in his opening remarks, Oweilaemi said Dickson succeeded in giving the Ijaw nation a sense of direction, purpose and a respectable identity in the comity of ethnic nationalities.

    He called on the Federal government to allow the people of the region to establish and manage the proposed modular refineries in the region.

    He added that it is one way the people of the region would be compensated for all the degradation they had been subjected to.

    The youth leader reiterated the 90-day ultimatum to all oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to relocate their corporate headquarters to the region, in line with the directive of the federal government.