It was embarrassingly painful to listen to His Excellency Senator Henry Seriake Dickson during his homecoming to Bayelsa State on Friday, October 30. One was reminded of that classic line attributed to Socrates: “When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”
What was meant to be a mega rally to receive a returning hero ended in a whimper. Perhaps that accounts for his foul temper.
In a rambling diatribe before a scanty crowd, he vented his disappointment that His Excellency Senator Douye Diri led Bayelsa into a strategic alignment with the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party at the centre.
What he failed to tell the crowd was that the decision was not personal, and he was not excluded. It was taken after due and extensive consultation with stakeholders, leaders, and loyalists across the state, including Senator Dickson himself, in the best interest of the state.
It must be remembered that Governor Diri was with the founding fathers of Bayelsa State in the struggle for its creation. He understands, perhaps more than most, that unity, peace, and inclusive governance are the indispensable pillars for achieving a Bayelsa that is the most desirable destination in Nigeria. He has never mistaken politics for warfare.
It is, therefore, not surprising that Dickson’s present posture is one of discomfort. For eight years, his politics thrived on brute strength and intimidation.
It is especially striking to hear Dickson’s recorded description of Yenagoa as a “forest capital” in an audio conversation with a former commissioner in the state that went viral on social media. He said this after serving eight years as governor of the state. Bayelsans are entitled to ask what he did in those eight years to change the condition he described. No magician can make eight years in office disappear. A former governor cannot speak as though he was merely a spectator to the state of its capital.
Having squandered enormous political capital and with a record in office that speaks for itself, his fragile ego has been left further battered. He would do well to remember the old admonition: those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
We must not lose sight of the fact that after much posturing, Dickson also left the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to form the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC); a good example of the pot calling the kettle black.
Senator Dickson spoke about his love for equity in supporting the emergence of Governor Douye Diri. Yet he has insisted on clinging to the Bayelsa West Senatorial District seat, which equity dictates should go to Ekeremor local government area. He clearly prefers to give good advice while setting a bad example.
In a remarkable escape from reality, Dickson described Diri as “his boy.” Those without a proper grasp of history will not know that they both served as commissioners during the government of then Governor Goodluck Jonathan. For all his vaunting, you may be forgiven if you came to the conclusion that Dickson was born as a fully formed man and had no transition to his political heights.
Diri as governor has always favoured prudence and negotiation over showmanship. It is telling, for instance, that the Glory Drive, a project which remained stalled throughout Dickson’s tenure due to legal tussles and petty political grandstanding, was quickly resolved by Diri upon assuming office in 2020. That single drive has now opened up the New Yenagoa City.
As Diri has often said, development will not be sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. Dickson, on the other hand, could not be bothered to complete projects simply because they were initiated by his predecessors.
Even if it is unintended, the records of the two governors are always going to be compared. Diri’s record shows the opposite philosophy. In his first tenure, he was deliberate about completing abandoned projects and initiating legacy ones. He insisted he would not waste the scarce resources of Bayelsans to score cheap political points.
That is why the Assured Prosperity Government is today defined by concrete legacies: the three senatorial roads – the 42km Sagbama-Ekeremor Road, the Yenagoa-Oporoma-Ukubie Road, and the Nembe-Brass Road – the 630-metre Angiama-Oporoma Bridge linking riverine communities for the first time in 60 years; the 2.9km New Yenagoa City Dual Carriageway; over 100 internal roads in Yenagoa; the 60-megawatt independent power turbines (being upscaled 100mw) to guarantee 24-hour power; the nine-storey civil servants secretariat complex; the 25,000-capacity stadium; and the BayelsaPRIME digital learning programme, and science and technical colleges across all eight local government areas.
These are not slogans. They are projects that speak, with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself describing Diri as a symbol of purposeful leadership.
There is a clear difference between building and bullying. It is the difference between Diri’s prudence and Dickson’s noise.
Tragi-comedy can be summarised as when a magician begins to believe in his own magic. Sadly, Dickson arrogantly seduced himself into believing his own omnipotence. Bayelsans are now watching him spiral down the same political pedestal that fate once elevated him to.
Diri, in contrast, is humbly aware that God is the lifter of men. He remains focused on governance, unity, and development. He will not be distracted by insults from yesterday.
Bayelsa has moved on. So should Dickson.
*Oyinpreye, a development economist and public affairs analyst, is resident in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State