By Oyintokoni Joel , Yenagoa
It was a heroic homecoming on Friday, October 20, as the National Leader of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) Senator Henry Seiake Dickson returned to Bayelsa State after about a year away.
Addressing a mammoth crowd of party faithful at the party’s Secretariat in Yenagoa, the National Leader thanked them for keeping faith despite over 200 members allegedly being sacked for identifying with the NDC.
He declared that Bayelsa does not belong to the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing Bayelsa as the Jerusalem of the Ijaw struggle, and directed supporters to vote for NDC candidates and Mr. Peter Gregory Obi.
The National Leader said the Federal Government under Peter Obi would do the roads the APC failed to do for Bayelsa.
“The roads that need to be done, that the Federal Government needs to do for us, the Federal Government under Obi will do for us,” he said.
He dismissed appointments from Bayelsa as mere rights and deceit, noting that any president would appoint someone from the state.
“NDDC appointment is our right. Don’t count that they are trying to deceive you with all those things. Any president will appoint somebody from Bayelsa, no be so? Don’t count that one,” he said.
“There is nothing the APC Federal Government has done for Bayelsa, is that not so? Every development you see here is not by APC government,” he added.
“They will say NDDC, NDDC is not APC government, it was established by PDP government, so it’s not APC. They have not done anything,” he said.
He charged supporters to be ready to campaign the APC out, community by community, and not to be intimidated by the Army or Police on election day.
“I will be joining you all, community to community. Will you allow that kind of party to rule you again? Everybody say ready to campaign them out,” he said.
“Don’t believe they will bring army, soldier for where? For our communities? Election day is not for soldier or police to come and intimidate you. You will tell the person, ‘Oga, today na election, you are not a registered voter, protect us and you do your business.’ Don’t allow any bagger to come and intimidate you or terrorize you in your communities,” he said.
“We will not allow that. It is your right to resist them, that’s what I taught you people. We don’t do politics with fear,” he added.
In his remarks, the Presidential Candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, who joined the National Leader for the homecoming and the commissioning of the Bayelsa State Chapter Secretariat, said under his presidency he would come to Bayelsa for holidays, while lamenting the shameful state of roads used for almost 30 years.
“I have shared it everywhere, in four years I will not stay one day outside Nigeria for holidays. All my meetings outside Nigeria will be for the interest of Nigeria and I will tell Nigerians where I am travelling,” Obi said.
“Nigerians must know where I am 24 hours because I am their president. We will change Nigeria. That’s what your government is going to do, that’s what we are going to do to make Nigeria work,” he added.
Obi appealed to Bayelsans to work hard to change the APC government, which he said is killing the country.
“I plead with you to work hard, let us change this APC government that is killing this country. We must change them, they must go,” he said.
“Like I said in the beginning, the man is tired, the man is tired, he needs to go home. Tinubu must go, Tinubu has done, go and rest. We want him to go and rest,” he said.
Obi said Nigeria cannot continue to have a government of father, mother, son and daughter.
“We cannot have a government of father, mother, son and daughter. We want to have a government that is available, that’s what we want to do,” he said.
He promised to create a country where a child of nobody can become somebody without knowing anybody.
He had earlier promised to move Nigeria from consumption to production, unite and secure Nigeria, fight corruption, provide free basic primary education, generate a minimum of 10,000MW of electricity, support industries and businesses, and make functional all South-South ports, including Warri, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Bayelsa.
He also challenged the President to come to Bayelsa to explain what he used the nearly $100 billion borrowed in the last three years for, describing the APC government as incompetent and lacking capacity and compassion.
After the presentation of the party’s flags to candidates contesting for Senate and House of Representatives by the National Chairman of the party, Hon. Cleopas Moses, and the commissioning of the State Secretariat by the presidential candidate, Henry Seriake Dickson later moved to Toru-Orua, his hometown in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, alongside the presidential candidate, where a mammoth crowd also received them.
At Toru-Orua, the duo joined a traditional boat regatta accompanied by some of the town’s traditional warriors, as traditional war boats took to the water in a colourful display of courage, unity, identity and ancestral pride.
