Before the November 11, Governorship Election in Bayelsa State, one didn’t really have to be a clairvoyant to know that given a level playing field, an impartial umpire and a strictly apolitical security agents, incumbent Governor Douye Diri would trump any comer and be returned elected by the good people of the state. He simply held all the aces (apology to James Hadley Chase). He earned the people’s trust and confidence. He was and still is their darling. A man of the people. And as the popular saying in sports arena goes, “nobody changes a winning team.”
So, it wasn’t a thing of surprise on the 13th of November, 2023, just about a month ago, when after all said and done, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Governor Diri winner of the election in the state. The import of that declaration was not just the re-election of the Miracle Governor for a second term in office, but essentially that the people have spoken, and eloquently so. What the electoral umpire did was to amplify the people’s choice, nay, their decision, authorising Governor Diri to continue the good work he has been doing.
In announcing the ‘choice of the people’, the Returning Officer, Prof Faruq Kuta, who is also the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Of Technology, Minna, declared that Diri polled 175,196 to defeat his closest rival, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress, who garnered 110,108 votes while the Labour Party polled 905 votes. A whopping margin of 65,000 votes cannot be said to be a thing anybody can wish away or dismiss with just a wave of the hand. It was simply emphatic.
Governor Diri’s triumph was the wish of the majority among the young and the old, the rich and the not so rich, peasants and the power brokers and they attested to this at various fora. For instance, former President Goodluck Jonathan, while speaking, simply approximated the preponderance of opinion in the state in the run up to the election. He told members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Bayelsa National Governorship Campaign Council, made up of governors, former governors of the party, National Assembly members and other stakeholders who paid him a visit as they went for a campaign that he was in touch with Governor Diri and his activities in the state.
He said for stability of Bayelsa State, Governor Diri should be encouraged to complete a second term in office. Dr. Jonathan said Bayelsa has made progress in the area of security and infrastructural development under Diri. In his words: “I have been in touch with our governor and I believe he should be encouraged to do his eight years. He has been able to stabilise the state. Let us find a standard way of doing things. We cannot kill ourselves; we do not want crisis.”
He went on to express delight over the involvement of critical stakeholders such as former Governor Seriake Dickson and the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Chief Ndutimi Alaibe, in the affairs of the party, stressing that it signified unity within PDP.
That was a massive endorsement and it showed clearly the direction of the peoples’ mood and a pointer to their preference pre-Novemebr 11. Therefore, the outcome of the exercise shouldn’t really be a thing of dispute or surprise to any person who cares just a little bit about objectivity.
Diri’s victory was made easier by what the late Chinua Achebe would describe as “solid personal achievements” in areas of critical infrastructure, peace building initiatives and security mechanisms, and natural disaster management with noticeable human face reinforced by his complete Servant Leadership approach to governance.
Urbane, gentle, not loud or given to pretentious showmanship or haughty cavalier attitude, Governor Diri is simply a man of the people, all things considered. Therefore, it would really have been a surprise, to say the least, had the results of the Saturday, November 11 election gone in a different direction.
Therefore, the level of general acceptance that has trailed the result of the recent gubernatorial election in Bayelsa must not be seen as a mistake. It is gladdening to note that the result sits pretty well with almost every crucial stakeholder in the state, beginning with the electorate, the leadership of both the ruling and opposition political parties, the contestants themselves but with perhaps the exception of the APC candidate in the election, Chief Timipre Sylva, and just lately, Labour Party candidate, Udengs Eradiri. And, they have taken their objection to the Election Petition Tribunal. Nobody should begrudge them. It is their right, and they are free to exercise it.
Now that the people have spoken and while the world waits for the Election Petition Tribunal to do its work, it is time for Governor Diri to double down on the good job for which he has been known.
The passionate pursuit of the provision of critical infrastructure must continue. It is on record that all three senatorial districts have benefitted from Governor Diri’s infrastructure drive without discrimination. The Unity Bridge in Nembe, for instance, was not left behind by the peoples’ Governor. He completed it for the use of the people. That is a high demonstration of large heartedness. Ordinarily, politicians victimise their opponents by starving their areas or bases of developmental projects just to score a point. This, Governor Diri has never done. He must continue to leave his fingerprints across the state with legacy projects.
Importantly, Governor Diri as the father of the state must embrace all, forgive past misdemeanours of political opponents and continue to prioritise the development of Bayelsa and welfare of Bayelsans above all other things as he is wont to do.
Whatever he has done to score the bull’s eyes in ensuring the enthronement of peace and security in the state that has earned him commendation from highly placed individuals and sundry corporate organisations must be re-energised. Without much debate, Bayelsa State under Governor Diri, in comparison with other neighbouring states, enjoys comparatively higher scale of peace and security. No less a personality than the former President Goodluck Jonathan testified to this when he declared to visiting PDP National Campaign Council for Bayelsa that “Today, we are all witnesses to the fact that there is peace and security and we can all sleep with our eyes closed.”
The acclaimed government’s Women and Youth Empowerment Programme for small and medium scale entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the state should be expanded to accommodate more beneficiaries. A whopping 840 SME owners benefitted from the empowerment programme the last time. It is a sure way of spreading prosperity in the Niger Delta State.
Finally, now that the people have spoken, Governor Diri must not give in to distractions. It is often said that Governors in their second term ‘don’t get serious as in their first term’. Governor Diri owes it a duty to himself and the good people of Bayelsa who have spoken unambiguously about their confidence in him, to prove this assertion wrong by working assiduously than ever before to make his second term a benchmark for all season.
·George Etakibuebu, a Strategic Communication expert, wrote in from Lagos.
