The Colour of Diri's Next Cabinet

On February 14,, 2024, Governor Douye Diri was sworn-in as governor of Bayelsa State at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex, Yenagoa. The atmosphere was charged. The policemen on parade looked baked and tired. At a point they were given the pint size ribena and a tea spoon of glucose to lick to quench their thirst. Not much was provided by way of first aid for the suffocating guests who endured the scorching sun like damned souls in hades. The event started far behind schedule as if time was never factored into the affairs of men. It was poorly planned.

Now, all eyes are on the generalissimo to appoint credible people to form a cabinet. Indeed, Diri made wrong choices in his choice of Commissioners during his first tenure. Yes, what stagnated the Prosperity administration was the poor choice of appointees, who could not have formed the second 11 of the best we have in our political landscape. It was a self effacing, damnation that turned government into a purgatory or better still a learning ground, rather than a theatre of excellence. This was the undoing of the Sampou-born teacher turned governor.

In this concise analysis, the various Ministries will be x-rayed and names will be dropped against the background of a cabinet that will redeem Diri's poor outing during his first tenure.

1. Ministry of Justice:
The immediate past Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice Mr. Biriyai Sambo SAN is an experienced lawyer, articulate in urban politics of the Lagos variety but naive in local Bayelsa politics. A survey shows that Dambo even worked against the interest of the people who nominated him for appointment. This is the typical way some of them betray their benefactors. Bayelsa people expected a lot of laws to be domesticated but they did not see much of this for the past four years. The arrest and prosecution of social media champions and the innocent Aguobiri 12 was the lowest he sank. Biriyai Dambo might have conceived of law reforms but that was too distant a dream.

In the past Barrister Wodu (now SAN) carried out reforms and forged on with the progressive character of his predecessor Late Chief Forum Egele SAN.That was when the Ministry of Justice was vibrant and purposeful. Wodu is an intelligent lawyer with the propensity of effecting pragmatic reforms in the Ministry. Wodu might be a fantastic replacement. Another sound lawyer Barrister Felix Okorotie (now SAN) is another Ekeremor-born legal luminary. He provided effective leadership when he was the NBA Chairman in Bayelsa State. Across political lines, Wodu and Okorotie may be considered as replacement for the conservative Attorney General who diminished the stature of the office to the lilliputian enclave of harassing small social media boys, initiating prosecutorial venom on innocent women and defending murderous Youth leaders in Opu-Nembe and elsewhere. Diri should understand that a proactive justice Ministry is one of the strongest selling points of any democratic system.

Diri should consider between Wodu and Okorotie as the next Attorney General of the State. Reengineering the Ministry of Justice will keep Bayelsa State on the same pedestal as Rivers and Lagos State.

2. Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Bayelsa is rich in culture and blessed with several tourism potentials. Globally, tourism and hospitality have become major industries that provide numerous economic and social benefits. They can help correct trade imbalances, distribute wealth between nations, support development, create jobs, foster cultural exchange, and promote education and peace.

Since Bayelsa State was created in 1996, the past four years are the most uneventful in tourism development in Bayelsa State. The Diri administration did not make an ounce of achievements in terms pushing the frontiers of cultural rebirth. It was like the dark ages when culture are other humanistic endeavours took a backseat, and the role incumbent spent most of his time sitting in his office. So much noise was made about revamping the peace park but this did not happen. When illegal structures were demolished, Bayelsans thought the illegal structures and caravans could be replaced with more aesthetically appealing structures. This did not also happen. Government underfunded the Ministry and treated it like a leprous agency of government.

Part of the problem was the incapacity of Commissioner Iti Orugbani to write good proposals and memos to convince the governor that tourism development should be prioritized. One thing I learned working with Senator Henry Seriake Dickson is that for any little approval to be made, you must write a convincing memo. A memo is like a persuasive essay. You must convince the Chief Executive on the genuineness and relevance of what you want to do to get approvals. Here was a Commissioner who could not report an incident of burglary that occured in his office, where laptops and other ICT gadgets were stolen. Crimes of that nature cannot be swept under the carpet.

The great historian Dr. Orugbani turned the Ministry into a platform where only cultural troupes were mobilized to dance at state events, and for four years, even the costumes of the dancers were not changed. The commissioner stripped the Ministry of Tourism of all the glamour it used to have, turning it into a non-living organism, a mummified agency of non-achievement.

Diri should appoint a man/woman who is a bit exposed, well-travelled and well-equipped with the vision and capacity to take tourism out of the woods. Government should also be intentional in developing a few tourist sites in the State. The tourism industry has a spillover effect on transportation, wildlife, arts and entertainment and the entire gamut of hospitality. No investment in tourism is a waste.

to be contd.

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