At 58 Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder —Gov Dickson

Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has described Nigeria as sitting on a keg of gunpowder.

He said this is owing to unprecedented division currently witnessed in the country as a result of bad leadership devoid of equity and justice.

The governor stated this during a media chat at the Government House in Yenagoa to mark the 58th independence of Nigeria, and the 22nd anniversary of the creation of Bayelsa State.

He said, “At the national level, Nigeria could have done better too. Nigeria at 58, we are still talking about elementary issues like the unity of our country, and the more people talk about unity, the more disunited we portray ourselves to be. These are some of the things we grapple with which are actually elementary issues.

“Unfortunately those at leadership level who ought to take concrete the steps are doing little or nothing about uniting the people. Unity should be shown by the steps or actions a leader takes and not platitudes and political slogans people pronounce when it is convenient.

“Leadership is measured by the decisions you take, appointments made by taking deliberate steps to treat everybody equally to create a sense of unity, equality and justice.

“Once you do those things, you will build bridges of unity and solidarity. That is one area our country clearly seems to be sitting on a keg of gunpowder. The country is more divided than ever before. However, our country has also made some progress at 58.

“Our democracy is taking roots because nation-building is not to be accomplished in four or eight years, or even in one’s lifetime but from one generation to another. We have a lot of national challenges, to which all leaders should apply themselves.”

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On the issue of electricity which has remained erratic in the country, Dickson said, “The lopsided federation we have is the cause of the current poor power supply situation in the state. We don’t have the freedom to do what we want to do because a lot of things are placed in the exclusive list. It is mainly a Federal Government failure and that is why we are fighting for restructuring and constitutional reforms in this country.”

On his assessment of the progress in his state, the governor said he was fulfilled by the achievements of his administration in virtually all sectors of the state’s economy, particularly in critical infrastructure development, education, health, security and tourism.

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