Tag: Sylva

In the next few weeks, precisely on December 5, Bayelsans will go to the polls to elect a new governor. It promises to be an interesting contest between the current governor, Seriake Dickson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the immediate past governor, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Both are contesting for a second term as governor.

In Nigerian politics, the incumbency factor is seen as crucial. Dickson is the incumbent and is of the party of former President Goodluck Jonathan, who is also a Bayelsan and mentor to the governor. Jonathan, using his position as president and state institutions, had personally imposed Dickson as PDP candidate in 2012, in a series of political missteps that cost him his presidency in March this year. He lost the last presidential poll to President Muhammadu Buhari of the new APC. Jonathan’s inability to hold on to his seat is indicative of how tenuous Dickson’s position is and why he is unsure of his fate. The only mitigating factor is what has been dubbed the sympathy votes the PDP may get from Bayelsans to ensure that their son, Jonathan, does not lose his political base. But the events of the last several months have proved that even that is not guaranteed.

High profile politicians and serving political office holders have abandoned the PDP and Jonathan in droves since the party lost the poll at the centre. Many have pointed to the lacklustre performance of Jonathan and the PDP, which failed to develop Bayelsa State and the larger Niger Delta region, despite producing a president for five years. It is on record that the only visible project, the East-West Road, which cuts through Bayelsa State, was not completed. Even more deplorable is the fact that the Bayelsa portion of that road is the one that is most neglected, compared to the Delta and Rivers states portions. Perhaps, aware of how badly he had performed, at a reception for him upon leaving office, Jonathan had said that he expected his kinsmen to stone him rather than welcome him. Since then, that public show of affection has worn out. On the streets of the capital, Yenagoa, and in the various communities, there is anger at the wasted years, a situation that prompted the mass realignment of political forces in the state to the APC.

As a result of the failure of the PDP federal government, even the Dickson administration is careful not to associate with the programmes of the previous government at the centre. It has been trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to position itself as an independent administration, conscious of the liability the Jonathans have become.

But here Dickson is on quicksand. The governor has not lived up to his promises to the state and large swathes of the state have not been touched by government programmes; several projects started by the founding fathers of the state, including the Sylva administration, are either abandoned or poorly managed. Aside the absence of governance in the state, the PDP is a shadow of itself. Many of the party’s stalwarts have defected to the APC and others complain of abandonment by the Dickson administration. Not too long ago, even the former First Lady Patience Jonathan threatened to withdraw support for Dickson. Dickson has become a victim of the many IOUs he collected on the way to becoming governor in 2012 and has become entangled in meeting the selfish demands of these godfathers and godmothers.

Still, Dickson’s major problem is the profile of his opponent. Sylva is considered one of the most potent political forces in Bayelsa State today, especially on account of his role in singlehandedly building the APC in the state at its foundation. Despite being in opposition, Sylva proved that he was no political minion in the way and manner he mobilised Bayelsans to key into the APC vision of change. It is a measure of his following that rallies called by the APC are packed to the rafters, with enthusiastic supporters and followers. For a man who was vilified by the PDP regime and hounded, he has proved his mettle and is regarded as one of the closest politicians to President Buhari. Some political watchers believe that the risk he took in breaking away from the PDP after the imposition of Dickson and teaming up with others to found the APC has paid off for Bayelsans by guaranteeing the state a place in the new regime.

Yet another problem is the new moral rectitude of change that the APC has brought to government at the centre. With this, the era of rigging that facilitated the massive victories of the PDP in recent times will not be permitted. The party will have to show that it is, indeed, popular and loved by the people. If the feelers from the streets and communities of Bayelsa are anything to go by, Dickson’s, and by extension, PDP’s, days are numbered in Bayelsa State.

According to Bertrand Russel, a British Philosopher,”No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues”. This is the story of the former governor of Bayelsa state.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend and professional colleague of mine in the pen fraternity accused me of committing political heresy, warning me against sticking out my name and integrity in support of Chief Timipre Sylva’s bid for re-election in the forthcoming December 5, gubernatorial election in Bayelsa state.

The reason according to him ranges from allegations of being a drug addict, wife beater, to that of failure to address insecurity during Timipre Sylva’s first tenure in office as governor of the state.

As spurious as it is in the eyes of all discerning minds the allegations are not new, it has been in the public domain. The question of how, why and when did these allegations arise is what will form the subject of this diary of private encounter for record purposes.

My friend did not end there; he went further to the social media and placed me on public trial by accusing me too of being a suspect of high drugs because of the fact that I believe in the political cause of Sylva.

In spite of the nauseating allegation against me because of Sylva; I just refused to be perturbed, because a clear conscience fears no accusation.

I told myself, “There’s nothing to bother”, my friends know full well that in my entire life I have not drank alcohol or smoked cigarette, talkless of consuming hard drugs; coming from a highly disciplined and religious background.

What crossed my thought process was that, if an innocent Jonah Okah who had not tasted cigarette or alcohol in his life could be so accused, then, certainly former governor Timipre Sylva is a saint and victim of high-wire political blackmail.

Again, I told myself that I will be unfair to my conscience and history if I fail to share my private encounter with Sylva whom I have associated with closely over the years.

I have no regret in doing so, after all the preclude is mine, it is the price of political faithfulness and not the betrayal and backstabbing characteristic of vast majority of politicians just in the pursuit of stomach infrastructure, a luxury I cannot afford.

My encounter with Sylva dates back to 2003 when he resigned as Political Adviser to former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of blessed memory. At the time he threw in his towel in spite of the irresistible spoils of an office that is more or less the political engine room of government, I was a Senior Editor, News and Current Affairs Department of the state owned Broadcasting Corporation.

Even though I was not close or even known to Sylva then, I wrote a commentary called “Newstalk”, which is the official editorial opinion of the Radio station on the resignation of Chief Timipre Sylva with the Title – Timipre Sylva and the honour of resignation.

The Newstalk dwelled on the significance and the uncommon honour of an average african politician resigning from office. It was considered a rare courage on the part of Sylva.

This was followed by another Newstalk I wrote with the title – Grey areas in government where I did not only take a swipe at government failure to address critical concerns of the people of Bayelsa state but also drew government attention to the social and infrastructural urgent demands of the people.

This was an uncommon courage by a journalist working in a government-owned media organization, in defence of the voice of the voiceless.

In quick reaction, I was not only invited but was bundled into a waiting vehicle like late Umuru Dikko and ferried to the expansive office of the governor for trial like a common criminal, where I defended the editorial content that was in public interest just as the radio station was tax payers’ property.

Till date, Sylva is not aware of what transpired except he reads this piece because I cannot afford to be a political bootlicker to tell him what I did for him and the rest is history.

Now back to the issues: first, the allegation of being a drug addict made and against Chief Timipre Sylva is one of the most cruel form of political blackmail no political office holder had ever suffered in the post independence history of Nigeria.

To disprove this point, it is interesting to share with the public about my close encounter with Sylva in 2009 when we were at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Sylva caught one of his personal Aides with cigarette at the Airport. He was furious why the young man was engaging in smoking and warned him against the danger it poses to one’s health.

Sylva publicly rebuked his Aide with a question, “I hope you don’t smoke marijuana and other hard drugs?” Adding that, “I want intelligent people to work with me and not people under the influence of anything”. The Aide apologized and promised that, that would be his last time to ever smoke or drink alcohol.

According to the Aide, “If a whole governor with everything at his disposal could resist smoking and drinking, then who am I that cannot hold myself”.

Those who are close to Sylva on hearing the stories accusing him of taking hard drug, the pangs of anger are visibly written all over their faces including myself, that an innocent man is being blackmail.

As a journalist, I kept a tab on the source of the story. It was quite reveling to my utter chargring that it was concocted by a political cabal who did not want Sylva to seek second tenure, who had fallen out of favour with him in pursuit of their self-serving agenda. Therefore, the only option left for them is by resorting to lining up negative narratives to give him image problems as well as cause distraction, in order to perpetually keep him out of the political firmament.

This was followed by the second script portraying Timipre Sylva as a wife beater. When this wife beating story was syndicated, we wondered whether it was the same Sylva we know or another Timipre Sylva in another planet.

Sylva has a lot of respect for women and one cannot imagine, linking him to such a wicked and baseless propaganda.

Let me give one example: borne out of his respect for women and in fulfillment of his affirmative action convictions, he appointed several women into positions of trust while he served as governor. Interestingly, for the first time in the history of local government administration in Nigeria, Sylva appointed Eight Women to serve as caretaker committee chairpersons in the Eight Local Government Councils in the state. This is a no mean honour accorded the women and gender sensitivity.

Therefore, the story of wife beating is part of the calculated chain of plot towards giving a dog a bad name in order to hang him.

On the issue of insecurity, it is sheer wickedness in high places to accuse Sylva of handling security with levity in his first tenure as governor.

It is a statement of fact that the problem of insecurity is a world wide problem which Sylva also found himself in the web.

We cannot forget so early the spate of insecurity and militancy that heralded the Sylva administration in 2007 when his swearing in ceremony was almost mared due to threat by militants.

This singular fact led to drastic drop in the revenue allocation accrued  to the state with a paltry sum of N2.5 – N3.5 billion.

It is on record that Sylva initiated a novel security architecture known as the TRIPPLE-E APPROACH, a strategy revolving around engaging the militants and other sundry crimes, Empowerment Programmes and Enforcing the law where necessary.

At his peril, Sylva traversed several militant camps by talking to them and engaging them on the need to drop their arms to embrace peace and security, believing in the development philosophy that there would be no meaningful development without security and peace.

Worried by the dwindling national revenue caused by militancy and his strong desire to resolved the general security challenges, Sylva brought together various militant leaders across the Niger Delta and gathered at the Bayelsa state cultural centre where they signed the first ever peace pact to end militancy in the Niger Delta. This marked the beginning and the official baptism of the restoration of peace and security in Niger Delta.

He further single handedly prepared a memo to late president Yar’ Adua on the need for amnesty in exchange for peace. Yar’Adua bought in to the idea with delight, which culminated in the widely applauded peace deal called Amnesty and this eventually restored peace and security in the Niger Delta.

The 22nd of August 2009 will remain ever green in the historic calendar of Niger delta when Timipre Sylva brought together the then militant agitators at the peace park in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State to surrender their arms as a mark of their commitment to the “Peace Deal”, in a celebrated ceremony with former president Yar’ Adua and service chiefs in attendance.

Former governor Sylva did not only take a step further to declare and commemorate August 22nd as “Peace Day” in Bayelsa State but also led the leadership of the now ex-militant agitators to seal the peace deal at the presidential Vila by meeting with the then president Musa Yar’ Adua.

According to one of the former militant leaders, Mr. Paul Eris popularly called general Ogunboss, “the pioneering and heroic role of Sylva in initiating the amnesty and restoration of peace and security cannot be denied him. The programme which brought about empowerment of our youths must be credited to Sylva”.

While preparations for the rehabilitation of the repentance militants was on-going in line with the peace pact, some of them became impatient, restive and resorted to anti social vices including cultism and rival cult killings because of lacking the means of survival in their new found life.

This is where the idea of setting up a special security outfit called Operation Fan Tamgbe came in, basically to tackle the post security challenges of arms surrender by the army of ex-militants some of who found themselves in the streets of Yenagoa in search of survival.

It was a noble idea conceived by a responsible government to curb the emerging security problems. Unfortunately the good intention was distorted, with pockets of abuses by certain overzealous security person leading to extra judicial killings.

This is where the political hawks who have been apposed to the emergence of Sylva as governor right from day one he contested the governorship took advantage of the situation and negatively magnified the narratives.

Interestingly, former governor Sylva who believes in the rule of law and respect for human right as a mantra for driving the development process in Bayelsa state gave all his support in prosecuting such officers involved in the extra judicial killings. For example, a young man by name Ockiya who was gunned down around the Christ Embassy Church junction along the Sani Abacha Road Express in Yenagoa by a Police Officer attached to the much criticized Operation Fan Tamgbe was successfully prosecuted and secured his conviction.

Another extra judicial killing by an officer of the Nigerian intelligence agency, NIA was also successfully prosecuted by to securing his conviction by death up to the Supreme Court.

Yet, critics of Sylva continue to deliberately play down on these sterling achievements by engaging in very ridiculous and mischievous campaign against Sylva to score cheep political points. How can a man who restored peace and security turn round to cause security challenges for his administration? That is a big question that is still begging for an answer. That amounts to setting one’s personal property ablaze which is an impossible task.

In the area of infrastructure, the Sylva administration embarked on the completion of projects inherited from his predecessors.

This is to nip in the bud the culture of abandoned projects and lack of policy continuity that had bedeviled the development process in Africa, Nigeria in particular.

Some of these projects which have been in the drawing board over the years include the Bayelsa State House of Assembly complex, the Banquet Hall, Revenue House, Ecole bridge, the state secretariat, the presidential castle and several others.

The Sylva administration further initiated and completed landmark projects that impacted directly on the ordinary people of Bayelsa state with the paltry allocation that accrued to the state.

The construction and completion of fifty internal roads at a stretch, the contract for the construction of these roads were awarded to Bayelsa local contractors in the spirit of checking capital flight and empowerment of the people.

Other projects include the Koki memorial hospital described by the World Bank as World Class Hospital, General Hospitals in all the Local Government Headquarters, Housing units for Civil servants, a befitting quarters for both the members of the State House of Assembly and commissioners, electrification of rural areas, streetlights; he also acquired a new gas turbine boost independent power project in which Bayelsa state under the Sylva administration enjoyed steady power supply more than any other administration in the history of the state. other projects are:

• Bayelsa State – owned Plastic Industry was established.
• A peace Park/Amusement Centre
• Completion of the State-Of-The-Arte Judiciary Complex
• Completion of New Government House.
• Upgraded Government House Clinic
• Upgraded the State Football pitch to world class pitch
• Constructed and completed the Nigerian law school
• Took the Multipurpose Towel Hotel from the 2nd floor to the 18th floor.
• Upgraded the General Infrastructure and Learning Environment at the state owned Niger Delta University and Secured the accreditation of several courses including the Faculty of Law and College of Health Sciences.
• The most workers friendly government by ensuring that workers were treated like Kings and Queens who were not deprived of their entitlements.
• Prompt payment of salaries of workers on or before 25th of every month.
• Skills Acquisition Centre.

 These are my private encounters with Chief Timipre Sylva as a person and his administration.

I have suffered stomach-ache several times on hearing comments from some people condemning Sylva government even in the face of obvious achievements.

It is no overstatement to state that no elected political office holder in the history of Nigeria had gone through the outrightly mischievous campaign of calumny Sylva had suffered in the hands of his political detractors, which is unfortunately fast becoming a culture among the political class in Bayelsa state.

In spite of walking through the political valleys of the shadow of death, his emergence as the standard bearer of the All Progressive Congress, APC for the December 5, 2015 gubernatorial election in the state is a mark of divine intervention and a lesson for his detractors that power is ultimately given by God.

In a broader perspective, clinching the ticket of the APC with the mantra of change, it is an endorsement by the people as a mark of their article of faith in Sylva to once again lead the people to the promise land, based on the shining testimony of his stewardship in the past.