The race for Bayelsa Government House has begun in earnest
and the state has become so charged politically especially since the Peoples
Democratic Party PDP was dealt a blow with the highly publicized decampment of
Timi Alaibe and his followers to the All Progressives Congress APC. The decision
of Chief Alaibe and other stakeholders like Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri and the
former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Mr. Sam Inokoba to abandon the
PDP was born out of a patriotic zeal to salvage the state from the shackles of
misrule which the Seriake Dickson led administration represents. The people of the
state who thronged the venue of the rally that ushered in Timi Alaibe and
others to the APC vented their angst against the underperforming governor and
the PDP which is bent on foisting him on the people of the state for another
term.
Expectedly, the decision of the former Managing Director of
the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC and a one-time Special Adviser to
late President Umar Yaradua on Niger Delta Affairs has not come without a fight
from the PDP and its apparatchik. They have in a manner that Nigerians have
come to know them for, continued to sponsor ignoble stories against the person
of Timi Alaibe who is regarded as one of the brightest minds in the state. One
of such ridiculous allegations came few days after his joining the APC. The
allegation which was sponsored by spin doctors of the Dickson administration
led by a known political blackmailer, had alleged that Alaibe is broke and has
been going about to name drop president Buhari’s name and that of ex-President
Olusegun Obasanjo as backers of his bid for Governor of Bayelsa state in order
to get funds from banks to sponsor his governorship bid.
Not done with their mischief, these same elements have also
sponsored other write ups in a space of one day to allege that the former NDDC
boss ordered his security aids to shoot sanitation officers in order to evade
arrest on the day the state government set aside for its monthly sanitation
exercise. The next day witnessed the most laughable of all their allegations
which stated that Alaibe whom they had described as broke had brokered a deal
with the former governor of the state Mr. Timi Sylva with 5 billion naira being
the sum to be given to Sylva. The report which came up in one of their
dedicated on line news sites alleged that the meeting took place in Port
Harcourt. (I thought they said he was in Byelsa ordering his security boys to
shoot sanitation officers)
After studying some of these fiendish but laughable
allegations made against his person, I am forced to ask that who is afraid of
Timi Alaibe? Obviously the governor whose administration has witnessed the
highest decline of creativity in governance and his band of followers appear to
be jittery over the rising profile of the APC in the state which has gone higher
with Alaibe joining their fold. Why the silence all these while when Timi was
still in the ranks of the PDP? Did he suddenly become bad over night by joining
the APC? The answer to this is that the PDP and its clueless governor understand
the strength of Alaibe and his outreach to the people of the state who love and
admire him for the good works he did while at the NDDC. They understand the
fact that they cannot match his political and managerial dexterity which he
brought to bear while in government.
Timi Alaibe, who was successful as a banker, ensured that the
NDDC was a well-managed establishment and this was evident in the way he went
about the NDDC Master Plan which unfortunately was abandoned by subsequent
administrations that came on board the Commission. He also necessitated the
quick embracement of the Amnesty Programme drawing a plan that ensured that the
boys never went back to the creeks again. Unfortunately, this plan was
neglected again leading to the massive scandal that has enveloped the administration
of the programme.
Can Seriake Dickson make a better governor than Alaibe?
Majority of the people of the state will naturally doubt the ability of the
governor but will not doubt that of a tested technocrat like Alaibe who has
strong vision to develop the state and make it better. Bayelsans have suffered
greatly as a result of the non-performance of the governor hence their clarion
call on Timi to come and salvage them.
The Dicksons of this world and his rogue spin doctors can do
all they want but they know inside their distorted heart that it is time for
them to go. There is nothing and I mean
NOTHING they can do to change that. Bayelsans crave for change and they know
that Timi Alaibe is an embodiment of that positive change they crave for so
dearly.
I will not be surprised to see more of their tantrums against
this accomplished Niger Delta son but at the end, the same fate that befell the
PDP that was busy looking for Muhammadu Buhari’s certificate instead of
campaigning on issues will befall them because the APC has gained the
acceptance of the people and will surely get their mandate come December.
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