Bayelsa Guber: Dickson’s Team Spirit Gospel Should Be Allowed To Prevail – Bayelsans in Diaspora

By Pat PA Okon

Bayelsans in Diaspora, a socio-political group, has called for the sustainability of the team spirit canvassed by the state governor, Seriake Dickson.

A group which vehemently condemned the recently published stance of the Restoration Caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State Chapter and Bayelsa PDP Restoration Foot Soldiers (BPRFS) in the build up to the November 2019 Bayelsa governorship election, said they were unnecessarily heaping moral burden on the governor.

The group kicked against the position of Restoration Caucus of the PDP, which on Sunday, through the Governor’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Mr. Feynman Wilson, sought exclusivity of eligibility for only their members as intending gubernatorial aspirants.

In a press statement by Messrs Williams Akpata and Ebikemefa Charles, the group’s National Coordinator and Secretary General respectively, described the group’s position as an illusion and contradiction to the team-spirit gospel preached by governor Seriake Dickson over the years in his continuous patriarchal role to rebuild a family of democrats at both the national and state levels.

It said, “Governor Seriake Dickson’s role was evidently showcased during the imbroglio that visited the Amodu Sheriff faction and the Ahmed Makarfi- led PDP, which defeated the attacking moles and spies from APC and its allies; not to mention the 2016 Bayelsa Governorship election against the APC-brokered Federal might.

“Due to that crisis, our party, the PDP lost members in hundreds of thousands, but thereafter many returned to stay. Fairness demands every member that was brought back to the party, and who has good intentions should not be denied the opportunity to pursue his/her dreams on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Fresh members to the PDP Family with good antecedents should equally be allowed to participate.

“Let us also be minddul that the Dickson-led PDP Reconciliation Committee during the national crisis won back some too. It addressed the impunity that had bedeviled the party, and preached forgiveness all through.

“Also the Bayelsa PDP Restoration Foot Soldiers (BPRFS) through their Publicity Secretary, Ebi Lawson, which is another stake-holding arm of the Restoration  group has recently forgotten this mantra of reconciliation through its attack on the person of Chief Timi Alaibe, one of the gladiators for the soul of the state at the November 2019 gubernatorial election. We rather remind ourselves that he is a member whose earlier supportive roles should not be swept away by the drive for extreme control by the Restoration Caucus.”

The group further said, “In another perspective, the move by the Restoration Caucus is exposing their intending aspirant’s fear for loss from a keenly competitive race, which compels us to look at the future. We must build beyond favouritism, cronyism, mediocrity and lackey motives.

“Our visionary Governor, Hon.Seriake Dickson, has through statewide prayers and fasting programmes, opened the doors to God, which is evident in the will of the people.

“It is worthy of note that our State now needs the best hands with brilliant innovative plans to continue the good works of the Dickson administration.

“Bayelsa needs more than a group’s singular point of view, it has to be collective and competitive. And it means a fresh air of innovativeness with superlative continuity attitude.

“Let all Bayelsans be allowed to participate as long as they propose good purpose and character, whether they be returnees or not. No undertone of exclusion should begrudge or disenfranchise our fellow brothers and sisters from contributing to the true Bayelsan vision.”

The group, however, advised, “let us restructure our minds for the rediscovery of values that uphold love in our communities from the choices we make today. This remains our vision for Bayelsa State. This is our unbiased stand on Bayelsa 2019. And anything short of this will very soon create a heavy moral burden not only for the party, Gov Dickson and the restoration group but Bayelsans and the Ijaw Nation in general.”