by Bayo Olopohunda

For a first-time visitor, what will forcefully unearth Yenagoa’s palpably unnatural guise are the slums that sandwich the town, hapless, luckless villages lying forlorn in the creeks, abandoned by its greedy leaders who have mismanaged its oil wealth for years.

The aircraft lifted off at the Domestic Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.  And in a matter of minutes we were airborne. This last trip was my third visit to Bayelsa State. I had visited the state once in the years the so-called Governor General of Ijaw nation, Dieprieye Alamieyesigha, dominated Bayelsa politics as the first elected governor in 1999. The second visit was during the reign of former governor Timipre Sylva. Yenagoa needs no introduction. It is the capital of the oil rich state; the home of Nigeria’s number one citizen, President Goodluck Jonathan.

The mostly Izon-speaking passengers onboard the flight were unique. Apart from being distinctively clad in the typical Niger Delta ‘resource control’ outfit, they were loud talking and eager to show off their new found status as the President’s kinsmen. The ubiquitous walking sticks added a swagger and an air of importance to their presence — perhaps a measure of their relevance in the current political dispensation. There was some lull, however,  in the journey. But the ambience was broken about 50 minutes later when the pilot announced our descent into Port Harcourt. I stood for several minutes to survey the airport. Nothing has changed. In a flash the terrible memories of mishaps that had given the airport its infamy flashed through the mind.

The 2005 Sosoliso air crash which claimed the lives of holidaying students; the Air France plane that overshot the run way; the bizarre tales of cows that strayed into the runway some years ago brought haunting memories. The control tower looked like an abandoned sentry post. The entire airport itself cut the picture of neglect. Potholes were visible in some portions of the tarmac. Some parts of the perimeter fence seem to be crumbling. In the Arrival, forlorn looking immigration officials barely welcomed passengers. As I passed through the so-called security check, I could not but wonder if the airport is not another disaster waiting to happen.

I began my final journey to Yenagoa by road. I was in a hurry to get to my destination given that my host had earlier warned me about the parlous state of the Port Harcourt-Yenagoa Road. He said it was not advisable to travel at dusk. I boarded a taxi and was soon on the road to Yenagoa. Then my nightmare began. The sorry state of the so-called East-West Road, perpetually under construction, painted a grim picture of the neglect that has come to define the state of infrastructure in the oil rich but impoverished Niger Delta. If there is any sign that construction has begun on the road, it was painfully evident in the haphazard state of construction. At a point, the construction was completely abandoned. Half of the road soon merged into a one-way traffic.

Luckily, I arrived Yenagoa after enduring a harrowing journey on the road. Again, nothing has really changed in Yenagoa. The entire town looked like a glorified village in dire need of development. It will not be out of place to refer to the capital of Bayelsa as a slum. This is coming 15 years after its creation and 13 years of democracy which has produced four governors, one of whom is the current President. This is not to mention billions in federal allocations that had accrued to the state in the 13 years of democracy.

Adjoining streets in the state capital were not more than miles stretch of sandy paths that merged into massive stretch of creeks. The only visible edifices in the entire town are the Creek Haven Government House and the State Secretariat. Along the Mbiama Road are derelict houses not befitting of a capital of a major oil producing state. Walking round the town, scores of abandoned projects litter the landscape. Emerging slums proliferating rapidly like sea weeds compete for space with few houses. The few decent houses in town contrast to the shanty dwellings and shops lying on much lower grounds by both sides of the road. The town’s major structures are constructed on land reclaimed from the swamps. Yenagoa strikes one more like a town being resolutely robbed of its character; a town growing without urban planning.

For a first-time visitor, what will forcefully unearth Yenagoa’s palpably unnatural guise are the slums that sandwich the town, hapless, luckless villages lying forlorn in the creeks, abandoned by its greedy leaders who have mismanaged its oil wealth for years. In Yenagoa, like many other Nigerian cities, there is a wide gap between the opulence of politicians, government officials, former militants and their hangers-on. The paradox is evident in the growing slums. It is indeed a sad and lamentable contrast. As soon as you step into the town, you can at once feel the poverty. Young hungry-looking children run after blaring convoys in expectation of crumbs thrown at them by politicians and former militants, now awash with amnesty money, riding in state-of-the-art cars. Elderly women stand along the road looking hungry and pitiful. This is in sharp contrast to the obscene wealth, and provocative lifestyle displayed by the politicians. The screaming noise from endless convoys in the small town adds to the oppression of the hapless dwellers

It is difficult not to feel the disappointment of missed opportunities. The paradox of a state with immense potential for growth held down by greedy and myopic leaders is too much to bear. But the tragedy of the oil rich state is the metaphor of the Nigerian situation. The truth is however, undeniable. A state that is producing most of Nigeria oil wealth has no business being poor. Its people also have no business with poverty. The present day Yenagoa is an affront to the nation, a scar on the nation’s conscience, and a shame to its oil wealth. It is what makes Nigeria the sixth producer of oil in the world. The plight of poor Bayelsans, who are made to bear the brunt of corrupt leadership, should be the major concern for its leaders. And, Nigerian leadership as a whole.

In other climes, Yenagoa would have been transformed into a modern global capital comparable to amazing places like Dubai or Abu Dhabi. These are destinations where oil wealth has transformed the lives of ordinary citizens. Oil wealth has turned those cities into global tourist destinations. Yenagoa deserves the status of a capital of a state endowed with oil wealth. The task before the current governor, Seriake Dickson, must be the determination to bequeath a legacy of development to the state. It is sad that 13 years of democracy has not brought that needed development and a “breath of fresh air” to the state. Now is the time to reverse this ugly trend.  That the Nigeria’s current president, Jonathan, is from the state and Niger Delta also places a moral burden on the region’s leaders. Does the President not feel bad when his friends and international visitors pay his home state a visit to behold the state of under-development? Does he ever plan to retire to the state when his tenure ends? Or, will he decide to live in Abuja while visiting the state like most former Niger Delta leaders do with relish? It has become imperative for him to put pressure on leaders in the state to heighten the rate of development. This also must be the case in all Niger Delta states where huge allocations have not transformed to development.

Back to my visit, I left the state with my taxi riding behind the wailing convoy of an obscure politician, who obviously has chanced on money, who dropped some naira notes from the windows of his car while some youths fought themselves to a fit to get at the flying, crisp notes.

————————-

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.