SYLVA WILL SURELY RETURN – SAM OGBUKU, CHIEF OF STAFF

Can you briefly assess the performance of your boss so far?

My boss has done so much. One thing I can say with every confidence I can muster is that he has demonstrated that he is a very patriotic Bayelsan in the sense that he did not abandon projects started by his predecessors, which is what many people do in the name of creating their own identity.

That is not patriotic because government should be a continuum. If you abandon those projects, it is the state money being wasted because funds have already been expended on those projects. My boss has shown commitment by continuing and completing projects commenced by his predecessors.

There are many of them including the Glory Land Castle, High Court Complex which can be compared to the best in the country, the Gateway road which was began by Mr President, which we met at 30 percent completion. We completed it and Mr President also commissioned it when he visited. There is the plastic industry also initiated by the President and completed by us, there is the Government House Banquet hall.

Apart from the ones this government completed, there are others we started. Take the case of education. There was no accreditation for medical and law schools at the Niger Delta University when we came. But the story is different today. We have been able to establish the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital using the Okolobiri hospital.

Also, take the performance of Bayelsa in WAEC and JAMB. It will interest you to know that the state has moved from the last in the ladder rung to top of the list. That would not have happened but for the governor's support and encouragement. In sports, we have not done badly. We have won the Premier League with the inception of this regime because of the encouragement given to Bayelsa United. The Samson Siasia stadium, which we built, has the most modern turf in the country today; you can make your investigations.

We came 4th in the last National Sports festival. In the area of infrastructure, especially road construction, we have done more than any other administration with 48 internal roads in Yenagoa. Some of the roads are brand new. They never existed. We met just about ten internal roads and Mr President did say that taxis can now move about freely in the state capital. The road networks have reduced criminality because security agents have access to places they hitherto could not enter.

People complain that since Sylva came, that they no longer have money in their pockets, they have become poorer. When we came, we resolved to give people money through projects. You must work to earn money. You cannot just sit down and be earning free money. Then you cannot compete. It is this spirit of earning free money that has made our people not willing to work anymore. At the Saipem project, some of them were given jobs but they sold out the job to other people who would do the work and now pay the original owners of the job.

We resolved not to encourage that kind of thing. When people say there is no money in their pockets, are they saying that civil servants are not being paid, that teachers are not being paid or what? We pay salaries as at when due. So how else does someone want to earn money? So, how has the government deprived anybody from earning money? When we gave contracts for these roads, everything was given to indigenous contractors, in fact indigenes of Bayelsa.

The governor reasoned that if you give these contracts to big foreign firms, then your people will only be spectators to development. He said the people should be beneficiaries of the development, which is why he gave them contracts to do the roads. In fact what the governor did was to give the contracts to those who live on the street to be done. How can they now turn round and say there is no money in their pockets?

The problem is that probably they did not reinvest the proceeds of these contracts. If the government gives you a job and maybe your company is not well established, then you should use the opportunity to make it a strong outfit so that it will be more permanent and so that you can also be an employer of labour. That was how we wanted to grow the economy. But people made money and just bought new cars and built new houses. That does not help the economy.

What the governor wanted to do was to empower these people so that they too can grow the economy and become employers of labour. They could not create the employment. Now the whole pressure is back on government. That's why they say there is no money in their pockets. The government is doing its best but we also need the people to support the government. We are trying hard to execute this local content policy by empowering our people.

What about the insinuations that Governor Sylva does not have any political machinery, that he was foisted on the people and the time of reckoning has now come?

A lot of people are being told the same thing. People like Rotimi Amaechi and Adams Oshiomhole. Yet today we see people leaving PDP for ACN in Edo. The truth is that no politician is born with a machinery, once you come into office, people pledge to work with you. People of goodwill will pledge to work with you.

Those who say Sylva was imposed on the people have forgotten that the initial election that brought him to office was annulled. The election was held again and he won overwhelmingly. Was the second election also an imposition or a mistake? The governor has a very strong political machinery on ground that is why they are complaining about being threatened because they cannot beat that machinery.

There are accusations that King Edmund Dakorou, the Amanyanabo of Nembe is overbearing on the governor

If anybody can be said to be the governor's godfather, that person would be President Jonathan because the president handed over to him. But the president does not even interfere with governance in the state. His Majesty the Amanyanabo of Nembe, is a traditional ruler operating in that capacity. He does not in any way interfere in the governance of the state. The President is the godfather we all have here in Bayelsa. If he did not support Sylva when he was leaving, the governor would not be where he is today

What about alleged claims by the former deputy governor that he actually put Sylva in office and now wants to run for the office?

The former deputy governor cannot lay such claims because he did not contest to be governor. He was just a running mate to the governor. He did not give the governor the PDP ticket. He cannot claim to have installed the governor. He too was interested in the position, why did he not install himself? He was also an interested party, he should have installed himself. That is to tell you that the claim is false.

Is Governor Timipre Sylva sure to return in 2011? He is the people's choice. Bayelsa people are ready to return him. I know that for a fact.