Dickson: After S’ Court Judgement, PDP Will Still Return to Path of Reconciliation
Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State is the chairman of Peoples Democratic Party National Reconciliation Committee, a body set up to find a peaceful solution to the leadership crisis plaguing the party. In this media chat, he speaks on the lead
There has been a lingering leadership crisis in your party. What is the future of PDP? I think the right question should be what is the future of Nigerian democracy? The tragedy of our democracy today is that we neither have a strong political party in government nor a strong political party in opposition. You all know the efforts we in my committee made to reconcile the various tendencies in PDP so that the party could come back on stream to play its role as a credible opposition platform. As a matter of fact, Nigeria’s democracy is worse for it, without a strong PDP. Unfortunately our party has not been playing a role of an opposition party because of the needless crisis plaguing us. What is happening in PDP is a great danger to Nigeria democracy, but I still believe that all hope is not lost. But what is happening in PDP is not just peculiar to PDP, it is also happening in APC. For our democracy to be secured, we need a strong party in government, strong, cohesive, united party in government, pursuing their democratic agenda as well as a virile party in opposition. But so far, our democracy is weak because of the absence of these. There is crisis in APC, it is brewing and nobody is talking about it. The sooner we in the PDP salvage our platform that is now terribly suffering a lot of de-marketing the better for our democracy. It is unfortunate that a political party has to go to the judiciary to resolve its internal problem that is essentially political. Relying on the court to resolve internal crisis is an indictment on the political class, it is an indictment on the democratic credentials of all players. My belief, my views might be in the minority, but my belief is that the judiciary is being over worked or over labored unnecessarily by political actors of all parties. We have abdicated our responsibilities as political players, we have surrendered too much to the judiciary, we have involved the judiciary in too many unnecessary political issues, and thereby exposing them to ridicule and we are not helping the judiciary. Political leaders who are key players in the democratic system should show the maturity, the political temperament to be able to recognise and solve problems within themselves and see politics as essential element of democracy, which is a market place of ideas. We all do not need to belong on one political party, even within our parties there are tendencies, there should be contestation of tendencies. But the irony in Nigeria is that politicians in Nigeria are more militant than the military. Honestly, politicians in Nigeria do not know how to argue, disagree amongst themselves, we don’t listen to ourselves, we can’t argue amongst ourselves. If you hold a divergent view, you are marked for destruction or blackmail, or tagged as doing antiparty and this is so because our political actors, leaders neither have the skills and the democratic temperament to drive the political process and these are partly the reasons why the crises in both PDP and APC are strong. In the US for example, you see all the tendencies playing out, Clinton on the centre of the Democratic Party, you have Bernie Sanders on the left of the Democratic Party and others; so also in the Republican Party, all marketing their ideas.
But I am confident PDP will still bounce back after the Supreme Court judgement, but my view is that we have no business going to a court. If PDP leaders had agreed to implement our template for reconciliation, a national unity convention would have held this month to elect a brand new leadership. The irony of it is that the judiciary does not reconcile, it only adjudicates. Even after the Supreme Court judgement, the party will still hold a convention and embark on aggressive confidence building and reconciliation. So what is the real reason for going to court?
I was opposed to Senator Ali Modi-Sheriff when some of my colleagues and others brought him, I didn’t like that, I thought that our party needed a fresh face to craft a fresh message after losing power at the centre. Losing election is bad but that is not the end of the world for a party or for a politician. Unfortunately those who brought him for whatever reason, fell apart with him. And when the Appeal Court upheld Sheriff as Chairman, I, as a product of the law, as a law-abiding citizen, adhered to the Court Judgement by duly recognising him as Chairman and the same people said I was a Sheriff man. As politicians we shouldn’t be law breakers or hold the Judiciary in contempt. We should not personalise judicial pronouncements by selecting the verdicts to respect.
Why should a politician for example want to pocket his party? Why should you be the one to select the national chairman and secretary and all the other posts? Must they be in your pocket for you to be a member of that party? Does that make sense? Is that not madness? If that is the thrust of a politician then you can go and form a political party of your family and be in charge then, but once it’s a national party, it is an aggregation of all interest and top of which is the national interest. After the Supreme Court judgement, PDP must address many of its problems top of which is funding.
We want to know your views on this quit notice on Igbo people in Southeast.
I condemn in strong terms the quit notice on Ndigbo. Nigeria has gone past that. We must remain as one indivisible country because our strength lies in our diversity. We didn’t even need the civil war we fought as a country because it didn’t result in anything. I support what the Northern Governors Forum and their counterparts in the East have done. I read the statements by my governor colleagues and I believe that all governors are united in this to see how we can promote peaceful co-existence and harmony.
• ‘Bayelsa is experiencing silent revolution under Me’•
I believe that the APC -led Federal Government could have done more in the area of promoting national unity in the country. I have spoken about this severally, the country was too divided. The Federal Government should consciously promote national cohesion, unity and unite the various ethnic groups in the country. But unfortunately, government has not done enough to promote national cohesion whether in the national management of federal political power, appointments or in evolving a national strategy to deal with the menace of herdsmen. The government must evolve the right strategy to contain all these as quickly as possible.
How far is the airport project in Bayelsa now? What is the full story or situation about it?
When I came on board, I wanted an airport in Bayelsa State, the heart of Ijaw land, to boost our economy and play an active role in the Gulf of Guinea. So I lobbied the Federal Government for partnership on the airport. But I was told contract for sand filling was already given to someone by NDDC, which they said was about 50 per cent of the cost and I said no problem but I wanted to drive essential elements of this airport by myself so that it doesn’t suffer unnecessary delays.
I told the contractor, your contract with NDDC stays, I am not interfering. I cleared another place and gave the contractor that place to come and stockpile that NDDC sand. After all, we can use it in the other development projects in the state.
I then took over the dredging of the sand for the airport proper and called in the biggest dredging company in Nigeria, Westminister dredging and Venoll, and gave the contract to them and paid them. Then I went to the Bayelsa State House of Assembly and insured a N50 billion facility to deliver on the airport and tied it to the various contracts that would be awarded. So, immediately the dredging companies verified, they went to the bank, they knew that their money was there in the bank. They worked day and night and within one year, they finished the dredging, and we expanded the scope of the airport from two kilometers runway to 3.5 kilometers because we have to make it commercially viable. Right now it is only in Lagos that all these big cargo planes can land, even cargo plane servicing the oil industries, bringing in oil tools, big cargo, carrying merchandise, they can’t land in Port Harcourt, they can’t land in Enugu, they can’t land in any other airport in the South-South. Cargo planes can only land in Lagos, Kano and Abuja airports. So we have to structure it for that type of traffic – actually cargo airport, to cover the South-south, South-east; you know, big goods they bring in from China and other places can land in Bayelsa.
So we are building actually the biggest state-owned airport, 3.5 kilometers, the contract was awarded to Dantata and Sawoe and it is now almost 90 percent completed, we now have the runway, we have the terminal building, now I am awarding the contract for the navigational instruments, when they are installed, you have the airport.
Why airport?
Airport will open up the state, enable people to fly into Bayelsa and fly out both for business, pleasure and generally create a hub for businesses. You know Bayelsa State is a historical centre of oil and gas and yet there is no activity and when you ask the companies why they are not in Bayelsa, some of them would say because there is no airport; they can’t fly in and fly out, you know. So we don’t even control elements of the oil trade because there is no airport, no seaport.
Did you start from the scratch?
We started from the scratch, there is no federal government or NDDC sand in that runway, that is the point I am making. I wanted the state to be in charge of the essential elements of the airport, sand filling, runway, once you do that, you have gotten an airport. I wanted to drive the essential elements of the airport and I am happy that it has paid off. So by the end of this year, I will be inviting all of you for the commissioning of the airport which is one of our biggest infrastructure investments. You guys will be flying to Bayelsa from Lagos for the first time. There are a lot of companies outside that are in touch with my team and I, and we will also be meeting with many more. They want to use it as a hub, they are coming in with planes, to run their services, fly from Baylesa, Lagos, Abuja and other cities and also service the Gulf of Guinea. Most of you don’t know that you can stay in Bayelsa and service the Gulf of Guinea because we are at the tip of the country, just by the ocean; you fly thirty minutes from Baylesa and you are in Equatorial Guinea. So that is the way it is and that is the market we are targeting. I will be reaching out to a lot of business people, because the airport is not just an airport, we want to make it, as I said, a trading hub. I want to talk to businessmen, all these importers, come and build warehouses. So from China they come, it is going to be actually a trade zone, a free trade zone, the airport itself. So all the goods coming into South-South, South-East and most other parts of the country will be there, there will be market for it, that is why the airport is very important.
I don’t know whether you are also building infrastructure to enhance operations at the airport? I am really talking about the roads, if you can really connect a road between the airport and the East West road, then that can take one straight to Warri, then you will also be thinking of capturing the Warri market
Oh, yes! It is all part of the calculations, we have done a road now going to Amasoma, which late Governor DSP Alamiesiegha started but which my government re-awarded to CCC. The company did a great job, they built corners, bridges, from 2012 when I gave them the job, so that road is very solid. But we are doing a road from that road to the airport, so from the East West, you can easily get to the airport, we will capture all that market, Warri, Ahoada, Ughelli and so on. But we have a strategic plan targeted at opening the airport for business because it is a thing that can accelerate our development, not just Bayelsa. Development of any state, or any nation is to create a business friendly environment and then build the infrastructure that can attract and encourage businesses to grow, so we have a strategic plan and that’s why this airport is so critical.
There is a plan for a deep sea port from the airport, about one hour drive, you get to the Agger Deep Sea Port, again we have been laboring to build the road that will take us to Ekeremor, the next local government which is 50 kilometers. These are the big ticket projects we will be doing. We are building the road from Sagbama to Ekeremor which is about 50 kilometers, we have sand filled about forty seven kilometers already. I moved in a second dredger recently, even in this recession we are doing that even though it is costly, very expensive, they are pumping sand day and night because we’ve got to get to that local government and see what we can move from Ekeremo to Agger which is about 67 kilometers from Ekeremor. We also did another 70 kilometers to get to Agger that is by the ocean.
As I always say the wealth of Bayelsa lies in the sea. We have the most beautiful beach in the whole of this area, the Agger beach – white sand, long stretch of beach, lot of things can happen- tourism, maritime related investment and that is the best location for a deep sea port in this country. As we know, we don’t really have a deep sea port in Nigeria, we have lots of trans-shipment going on. The Ekeremor road I talked about will cost over N40 billion! I am even scared there will be other variations, because of inflations and the exchange rate and so on. We are bent on delivering on that road before the end of my tenure, we have already stabilized up to fifteen kilometers, sand filled, stabilized and now vehicles can run on it. Already they are calling me that the economy is improving, there are young people who are now in the business of loading vehicles in some of the Ekeremor communities for the first time, they have some young men in the parks shouting, Ofoni, Yenegoa.
From that deep sea port to remote areas, we are opening up a joint trade corridor in the South- South and South-East because the end of my local government, Sagbama Local Government, is very close to Onitsha and there are a lot of oil facilties – gas flaring going on. What I have started doing as part of our strategic plans is to engage even the oil companies, NNPC and I have visited all of them, gotten their support to provide power, 24-hours.
We have acquired 400 hectares of land and we shall make it a huge market for industrial estate linking it up with the South Eastern market – Onitsha and so on.
How much of these you have enumerated can you finish before 2019?
No, as I have said the airport is already being completed- end of this year. As a matter of fact, some months back, an aircraft on a mission landed there and took off, because what we call an airport is a road, essentially fortified road with the navigation material. So they will be delivered. We are working with our partners collaborating on the big industrial park, collaborating with IOCs, the NNPCs, on supply of power, they are flaring the gas even as we speak. We are converting gas to power, so that when we have 24 hour supply, it will now be a manufacturing hub for companies that want to manufacture. Part of the challenges in Bayelsa State is we don’t have strong private sector participation, the whole economy revolves around the state government expenditure, so that puts a lot of pressure on governance, affects the politics adversely and these are the reasons why we need the participation of the private sector.
Two days ago the shell’s country chief was my guest in Bayelsa, a lot of things are changing, they know the narrative about Bayelsa is changing, people can see life changing projects and government projects are impacting on the people and there is relative stability. We have invested heavily in security and today, Bayelsa is the safest state and stable state even though it is the epi-centre of the Niger Delta issues, concerns and struggles.
(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)
Relying on the court to resolve internal crisis is an indictment on the political class, it is an indictment on the democratic credentials of all players. My belief, my views might be in the minority, but my belief is that the judiciary is being over worked or over labored unnecessarily by political actors of all parties. We have abdicated our responsibilities as political players, we have surrendered too much to the judiciary, we have involved the judiciary in too many unnecessary political issues, and thereby exposing them to ridicule and we are not helping the judiciary