Bayelsa Governor: “Why I Don’t Discuss Patience Jonathan”

In this interview, Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Dickson Says: “She is our mother, our sister and our wife”

Can you identify the challenges you have faced and how you are facing up to them?

I have been in political service for quite some time and I had been exposed to service for our people even before I ventured into partisan politics. At no time did I believe that being the governor of Bayelsa State was going to be a bed of roses. I knew clearly what the challenges were but there are things I have come to find out that I didn’t imagine before.

When you look at the way they behave; even leaders, elected officials, the way they take governance as if it is the responsibility of only one man, the governor, it is simply amazing. If you are in the National Assembly you don’t owe any obligation to anybody, to your state and even that much to your constituency. If you are a Minister you just stay far away and do your job, in whatever office. Even within the state our attitude is to stay far from the problem and then worse still, throw bricks at the governor and the government. We do not have the intention of sharing the vision and supporting anyone who is steering the ship of state.

If you are in the National Assembly, you think of how many roads you will put on the federal budget, if you are having a position of influence, you do so but when you see this small state and the opportunities we have at other levels and you sit down here as governor grappling with these developmental challenges, you are trying your best and you turn around and all you see and hear are complaints.What of these other people? So nobody owes responsibility for development of our people except the governor? So we don’t have this shared vision of promoting development.

The media has been recently awash with reports of groups threatening and warning the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan not to join her husband, the President, for the February 5 PDP Presidential rally. What is your reaction to this?

I have a policy of not discussing my boss’ wife. She is our mother, our sister and our wife and she is entitled to all courtesies and respect due her and I enjoin everybody to extend that to her. My office has issued a statement condemning the activities of these faceless persons who are said to have issued that type of mindless statement. We are looking at it as a government and the security agencies are also doing so and in no distant time those behind it will be unravelled.

I know that it is the activities of some of these desperate young elements, who from one administration to the other are the people creating problems, characters who are spreading misinformation and blackmail and polarizing our state at a time we should be uniting. And that is the sad thing about it. At a time when we should all be uniting to work for the president’s election, they have chosen to use this period to spread misinformation to divide a state that is united.

It is very sad. If you look carefully, some of these young people whose ambitions and activities have given rise to these are the people that have always brought down and have spoilt any government they have associated with.These same characters are the people who misled previous governments; used them and dumped them and destroyed them. And I am not somebody that can be used that way at all. I am a man of principle. I cannot be intimidated by anybody.

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.