Oluwole Ige examines the immediate challenges facing the governor of Bayelsa State, Honourable Seriake Dickson, as he settles down to his new job as governor of Bayelsa State.EMERGING realities confronting the new executive governor of Bayelsa State, Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson, in his fresh responsibilities have undoubtedly shown that there is a sharp difference from being a federal legislator, representing a designated constituency, and a governor, presiding over the affairs of the entire state.Since he was sworn in as the fourth executive governor of the oil rich state on the 14th of February, 2012, amid pomp, Dickson, who until his emergence as the governor of President Goodluck Jonathan's home state, was a federal lawmaker, has come to terms with the fact that piloting the affairs of a state is not a tea party affair.Despite the rigours he went through before clinching the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket and winning the gubernatorial election, coupled with his resolve to pursue restoration agenda of a state weighed down by infrastructural deficiency and socio-economic inhibition, Dickson is now faced with critical task of transforming beleaguered Bayelsa.The moment he took over the mantle of leadership, Dickson, who hitherto represented Sagbama/Ekeremor Constituency in the National Assembly, realised that mines, capable of rubbishing his well thought out strategic plans and policies, had been discreetly laid by the immediate past administration of Governor Timipre Sylva.What actually compounded the situation was the failure of Sylva to properly handover to the new governor, a development which would have provided an ample opportunity to ascertain the assets and liabilities of the state.Sylva, alongside other four PDP governors, were unceremoniously sacked from office on the 27th, January, 2012 , via a Supreme Court judgment, which held that their tenure had expired on the 28th of May 2011 as stipulated by the nation's constitution.Sylva's whereabouts since the apex court handed down the judgment, which nailed the coffin of his administration, has remained a subject of controversy as he chose to maintain a low profile, leaving no clue about his location.The major factor slowing down the aggressiveness of Dickson to kick start his restoration agenda is the appalling financial status of the state. Before he vacated power, Sylva had obtained several loans from various banks and other financial institutions to carry out some capital projects, majority of which remained uncompleted and moribund at the time he left office.Large chunk of these loan facilities, including the N50billion he sourced from the capital market on the 23 September 2010 to complete the Towel Hotel project, initiated by the first civilian governor of the state, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, had not been paid. At the time the new governor resumed, he was shocked beyond disbelief to discover that the state treasury had virtually been emptied, thereby throwing up a big challenge on the implementation of his blueprint to evolve a rejuvenated Bayelsa, where service delivery, responsive governance and provision of effective infrastructural facilities would be given topmost priority. More worrisome is the startling revelation over the staggering monthly wage bill of the civil service in the state, totalling N6billion.Dickson had recently insisted that his government could no longer sustain N6 billion monthly wage bill of the workforce, saying it constituted greater impediment to the state's socio-economic development.Describing the monthly wage bill of the state as the highest in the country, the governor stated that drastic measures must be taken to prune it down as a prerequisite for ensuring the delivery of efficient service and provision of critical infrastructural facilities for the people.According to him, 'we can't sustain the workforce that is bigger than any other state. We can't continue every month spending about N6 billion naira to service the workforce. We know that this over bloated wage bill has constituted major impediment to the capacity to deliver service. But we need to work together to address the matter'.Another discovery that baffled Dickson while flipping through the files containing the financial details of the state government was the strange payment of a sum of N300milion monthly to a firm identified as SNECOU, believed to be owned by former Governor Sylva since June 2007. The state government subsequently approached a Bayelsa State High Court, which granted an interim order stopping further deduction of N300million monthly from Bayelsa State Account based through Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) signed between the administration of former Governor Timipre Sylva and the SNECOU Group of Companies Limited over undisclosed services rendered.Perturbed by the critical financial condition of the state and its high debt profile, the governor, about a week ago, set up 11-man Financial Review Management Committee, headed by the former Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Timi Alaibe. Part of the terms of reference of the committee was to ascertain the actual debt portfolio of the state expenditures and provide report on how Bayelsa's Internally Generated Revenue [IGR] could be shored up.Apart from the seeming financial hurdles before the new administration in Bayelsa State, fresh growing rate of insecurity, most especially in the riverine communities, and lately, the renewed cult hostilities in the urban centres, have been giving Governor Dickson a serious nightmare.The prevalent peace and tranquillity in the state was shattered on the first day of March, when sea pirates, in broad daylight, swooped on security operatives at different locations, killing four soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel and four marine policemen, along Ogbia-Brass waterways and Nembe, a coastal town in the state. The four military personnel felled by the assailants' bullets, belonged to the Joint Task Force [JTF] code-named 'Operation Pulo Shield', saddled with the responsibilities of securing oil installations and waterways along the Niger Delta. Similarly, within the space of two weeks, no fewer than six persons had been killed in cult hostilities, thus raising fresh fears over the resurgence of cult violence in the state. One of the victims of the killings was an undergraduate of the Niger Delta University (NDU), situated at Southern Ijaw Local Government Council, who was hacked to death last Tuesday in Amassoma and a prostitute hit by a stray bullet in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Sunday night.While Dickson was battling to address the fresh security challenges, powerful political blocs have upped their ante in mounting pressure on him over appointments into his yet-to-be-constituted cabinet.A credible source informed the Nigerian Tribune that the scramble by various groups for juicy cabinet positions may have stalled the governor's moves to submit the list of names of commissioner-nominees to the State House of Assembly for screening. According to the source, 'One of the powerful blocs, led by a stupendously rich traditional ruler from Bayelsa East Senatorial District, had insisted that his group must get seven cabinet positions, considering huge contributionhis camp made to the realisation of the 'Restoration Crusade', which culminated in the success of the governor at the poll'.'Already, President Jonathan has waded into the crisis, with a view to ensuring that the formation of Dickson's cabinet does not snowball into another round of intra-party squabbles in Bayelsa PDP', the source enthused.But, the governor's Senior Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson, expressed optimism that the challenges and other teething difficulties facing his principal would soon be surmounted in no distance future.He affirmed that the governor was being painstaking in his approach towards tackling the myriad of problems militating against the healthy growth of the state. On the delay by Dickson to appoint commissioners, Iworiso-Markson said, 'Right now, politics is the biggest industry in Africa. Even in a local government, once a new administration comes on board, people would be jostling for appointments. It is expected in our clime. For a state like Bayelsa, such things are bound to happen'Continuing, he asserted that, 'I may not use the word powerful blocs, but I know that there are leaders in this state, who are stakeholders and the governor believe so much in consultation in his bid to balance political equation. You cannot put two individuals in the same zone into your cabinet. By the time the list of his commissioners is released, it would be obvious to all that what we are presenting to Bayelsans are not just people who are capable, but credible individuals who would deliver on the restoration mandate'.But, beyond Dickson's daunting challenges, pundits holds the view that he should accept the fact that government is a continuum and brace up to confront headlong emerging and inherited problems standing between him and his avowed commitment and dream to transform Bayelsa so that his resolve to restore the lost glory of the state would not be a mirage.
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