Says “every leader needs trusted,committed followers…”

…As KOLGA Delegation of Stakeholders Pay Him a Thank You Visit in Toru Orua

The immediate past governor of Bayelsa State and serving Senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District in the Senate, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, has asked the Chiefs, Elders, PDP Caucus members in KOLGA, Political appointees from KOLGA and other stakeholders, who paid him a thank you visit, for his support and political engineering that led to the emergence of their son as the governor of Bayelsa State, to equally give their support to Governor Douye Diri to make sure he succeeds.

Senator Dickson gave this advice in Toru Orua today as he hosted KOLGA Elders and Chiefs in his country home. Senator Dickson said, ‘I and the PDP went through a tough fight to ensure inclusiveness and fairness in Bayelsa State, by Governor Diri’s election as the Bayelsa State governor and Senator Lawrence Evhrujakpo as the Deputy Governor”.

Senator Dickson told the August visitors from KOLGA that, “now and forever, there will be no minorities in Bayelsa State politics, noting that, it was a tough fight to select one person among equally qualified, loyal members of the PDP and the Bayelsa State government at the time.

Senator Dickson said, in the end, the question of equity and fairness tilted the balance in favour of Governor Douye Diri from KOLGA, where there had never been a governor and Deputy Governor. He said even the Senate he gave to KOLGA, in the person of Governor Diri and the Speaker for the first time, was to prove that there are no more minorities in Bayelsa Politics.

Senator Dickson said, “with Evhrujakpo from Ofoni as Deputy Governor, it was a conclusive proof that, there are no more minorities in Bayelsa and that anyone, from any Local Government Area or Community, no matter their number or size, can become anything with the right platform, network and capacity.

Senator Dickson said, he would have left office with a moral burden, if he had decided on his successor only based on numerical strength of where the PDP candidate came from. He noted that, the fight would have been easier but, it would have left him with a huge moral encumbrance. He said, since God had done this for all of them, he enjoined all of the distinguished people of Kolokuma/Opokuma LGA  and the Elders and Leaders present at the reception to stand by Governor Diri because a leader is not a leader, without trusted followers. He emphasized that they should stay with Governor Diri, pray for him, advise him and guide him. He said this will make the fight they went through worthy at the end of Governor Diri’s Tenure.

Senator Dickson said, if it happened otherwise, people will say that they supported somebody unworthy, and that, even they, KOLGA who had been fighting to be governor for a very long time and when they were given, they failed. He said that should not happen.

Therefore, he said, they have a collective responsibility to make sure Diri succeeds. He said if Diri fails, people will say that he left other qualified candidates to give them a failure. Dickson said, He and the leaders from Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area have a joint responsibility to ensure that Diri succeeds.

Senator Dickson said with the quality of good representatives in the delegation that he has seen, if they gave their support to Governor Diri, he will surely succeed. He emphasized that, if they don’t, they will make way for mischief makers to derail and distract Governor Diri.

Senator Dickson said he had been Governor before and he knows quality advise and how friends can become foes and foes become friends due to bad advice. He said they should support Diri for him to be able to form a government for all Bayelsans and he prays Diri succeeds and is able to surpass his own achievements. He said because of the importance of the criteria of inclusiveness and fairness, which favored Kolokuma Opokuma, the LGA of Diri, the least populated Local Government that, the PDP and himself sacrificed legitimate gubernatorial ambitions of several very qualified and loyal members of the party who have served him very well because they wanted to be fair and inclusive.

He said they should not take his distancing as a sign of any rift but that Diri has the mandate of the people and he must give him the space to govern the people of Bayelsa State without any undue external influence.

He said his Home and his Community were Diri’s and that a Crocodile does not eat fish from the pond in which it dwells.

Speaking earlier, the Chiefs, Elders and Political appointees from Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area said they were in Toru Orua to say thank you to the former Governor, Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, for supporting their son through his political engineering that enabled him emerge the governor of Bayelsa State. They also thanked the People’s Democratic Party for providing the platform for their son to get the mandate and subsequently win the Bayelsa Governorship election.

Speaking to our reporter, Elder T. K. Ogoriba, a member of the PDP Elders Caucus, KOLGA said, it is only somebody who has not lived well that will not understand the good somebody has done for him. He said without Senator Dickson’s input, a KOLGA man would not have been the governor of Bayelsa State now. Elder Ogoriba said, if you talk in terms of numbers, KOLGA is the smallest Local Government Area in Bayelsa State and Politics, being a game of numbers, regardless of KOLGA having the manpower, they still will not be able to produce the governor without the support and doggedness of the former governor and serving Senator’s to make it happen.

He said for Senator Dickson to be able to stand with their son, stand by their son and stand for their son to become the Governor of Bayelsa State, they have come to say thank you! He said to whom much is given, much is expected and for appreciating what he was able to do for their son, it will be clear to Senator Dickson that they were showing gratitude. He said they wished Senator Dickson well in his current endeavours.

Elder Ogoriba said normally in political parlance, when somebody gets a political office, he would want to have the 2 terms of eight years. He said they expect that Douye Diri will also get eight years with Dickson’s support and their collective understanding. Especially with Dickson being the first person in the history of the state to serve out the two terms of eight years and thus breaking a jinx.

He said there has to be a synergy, a rapport between them and Senator Dickson, between their communities and Dickson’s Community and supporters. Between them, their LGA, Dickson’s LGA and by extension, other LGAs in Bayelsa State.

Elder Ogoriba said the purpose of the visit was to express gratitude and make Senator Dickson know that he has a political family way out of his own LGA. In terms of elections, they can’t be of any help because they are in a different LGAs but that however, they can make contacts for him so that those persons that are bickering right now will see reasons and support him as the elections come up in February next year.