How Bayelsa stopped political violence – Information Commissioner

Deacon Markson Fefegha is the Bayelsa Information and Orientation Commissioner. In this interview, Fefegha declares that the Governor Seriake Dickson administration focus is on transforming education, infrastructural development and security of lives. Excerpts: Many people think Bayelsa is experiencing a new style of governance. How has it been?
Let me describe this administration as a love gift to Bayelsa people, especially because it was inaugurated on a day known as Valentine’s Day. And to us and every indigenes of the state, there were high hopes to transform the  state. When the burden of history fell on Governor Seriake Dickson to transform Bayelsa, the state was a period characterized by insecurity, violence and the citizens had lost hope.
The people were so despondent, many did not believe that we will rise up to the challenge of transforming the  state. But, today, so much has been achieved. But let me say that the government has only functioned for seven months. By our calculation, it was only in April that the governor appointed his Commissioners and what he was doing initially was to lay the building blocks for the foundation to  effective take-off of governance.
Because without the Commissioners and other aides he could not have done anything alone. And it was when we all sat down in April when we came on board that we started formulating policies and one of the first was the Appropriation Bill that was sent to the House of Assembly to be passed into law and contracts awarded.
But when we thought government had taken off, the flood came like  tsunami and destabilized the system of governance. And the focus of government was more on how to rehabilitate those displaced internally by the flood and we all suspended all we wanted to do and went all out to see how we could salvage the remains of our infrastructures and at the same time put the building blocks gathered together by this administration intact. And we had a burden to help the displaced persons.
It was not an easy period. The flood disorganized us and broke the flow of governance. It slowed us down.  Bridges were lost, roads were torn and the load was heavy. Also while trying to recover from the flood, we had the ill-fated helicopter crash that killed the Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa and our son, General Owoye Azazi. But with all that behind us, we have tried to be focus and forge ahead.
Now that the trying period is over, what is the main focus of the  administration?
One of the major focus of the administration with a view to driving the economy is education. From the onset, the governor did not mince words when he realized that Bayelsa State is the epicentre of the Niger Delta and is the place where every Ijaw man has come to stay. And it became a responsibility that we have to take care of youth unemployment. Bayelsa was also a centre for restiveness in the past.
Five years ago, it was difficult for us to sit here and chat. Even going home without looking behind you was difficult. But, today, everyone in the state can close his eyes and go to sleep. This does not mean we do not have one or two criminal incidents. The governor, from the beginning, declared that we are set to fight crime and criminality.
The Governor, being also an experienced man in the area of crime fighting as a former police officer, a lawyer, Commissioner for Justice and a lawmaker, applied the battle with human capital development and education. In doing this, the administration decided that one of the things to be done is to first fight crime and criminality.
One of the things we did was to pass a bill into law prescribing political violence, crime, criminality and cultism in the state for peace to reign. And though we still have incidents of kidnapping, it is not peculiar to Bayelsa.The only thing we are set to battle now is sea piracy.
For this reason, we have set up an anti-piracy squad known as “Doo Akpoo”. This is the government of restoration and we don’t want to use the existing security apparatus to maim or kill people like they had in the infamous security outfit known as Famou Tamgbe in the state.
This time around, our focus is to rehabilitate the youths involved in crime. So, we have been able to arrest  criminal activities to a reasonable extent. And that is why you see some night clubs still functioning. Such activities were not possible six years ago and this is the legacy that we have come to put in place.
But the education policy seems lost in all these?
It is not. What we have done is encourage the people to have  free and compulsory education. It is a cardinal plan of this administration. And for this reason, we have awarded scholarship to deserving students. Because it is a government for the Ijaw people, we have also extended the scholarship to  students in neighbouring states that are Ijaw speaking, that is Edo, Cross Rivers and others.
We emphasis that we can only match our development when our people are soundly educated. For instance,in the Information Ministry, when we decided that we must transmit the Ijaw Culture to the nation and the world, we know we must have adequate and qualified manpower.
This is the more reason we are sending our students  to the United States and the United Kingdom. Last year, we gave out N1billion for scholarship grants. And this year, we have decided to add more because our people have shown new hunger for education. The money  was not enough.
We have decided to double it to allow more of the people to benefit. We have also initiated another phase of the scholarship that is coming because we want our people to be educated. Now that we have taken our children out from the den of cultism, what they are to do next is to be taught how to read and write and give them skills. And that is why we reopened the College of Arts and Science. We have also moved the College of Education from Okpoama to Sagbama because of proximity and easy access to the place.
Government says Bayelsa has become a huge construction yard? How well has the infrastructural policy been implemented?
That is the major policy of development and development  of the state. On road and buildings,we have opened up the city on three flanks. We have opened the state for development with roads. Of course,you are aware that in the state, there is traffic jam in town but this is for the good of the state. The people of the state have started bearing the pain because they know that it will be smooth soon.
All we are doing is that every road in Yenagoa must be dualised. We have also opened the roads to the East and the West through internal roads. It is not just small roads but with double lanes. We want to open up the road and build fly over bridges through  Amassoma Road and Tombia. Another one is at Opolo roundabout. We want to ensure that the road links  Immirringi Road and Otuoke.
If we do not do it now, in time to come, it will be difficult. It is to rework the master plan for the state.Today, in Bayelsa, there is a facelift of the capital and it will soon be a tourist delight. We have also started rehabilitating the five-star hotel earlier abandoned and we have also started work on the 500-bed hospital. We want a situation where it will not only serve as hospital but also a tourist site.