One thing that is noticeable, but regrettable during election periods in Nigeria and Bayelsa State is the fact that those seeking elective offices make many promises in order to get the support of voters and some of those promises are never kept.
However, in the midst of all that insincerity, there are some persons who are exceptions due to their lifestyles, their simplicity, accessibility and humility coupled with the way they manage their interpersonal relationships.
Since interested aspirants declared their intention to contest their party tickets, several of them have come under the searchlight of delegates who are to vote during the forthcoming primary elections; it is September 3 for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with 24 aspirants.
It is difficult to read the mind from the look on one’s face, but it is possible to understand if someone is sincere about his promises with careful study of the manner in which he responds to people, how he interacts with them and how addresses situations.
Frederick Yetimone Agbedi, member representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives is one man who has continued to amaze Bayelsans who have had the opportunity to encounter him due to his simplicity.
His private residence is as open as his transparent style of living with the perimeter fence made of iron pillars and rods so that any passerby has a clear view of the compound unlike the private residences of other top political figure in Bayelsa State.
When you see some of those private residences in Yenagoa, the walls are so high and imposing as prison walls which conveys the feeling that the owners are so far removed from the common man on the street, the ones they want to govern.
For Agbedi, a three-term federal legislator who has grown through the PDP and held several offices including state chairman, you would think that he would have acquired that peculiar attitude of most successful politicians that sets them apart.
But, even at his hometown of Aghoro in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, it is the same simple lifestyle; he knows all the locals and remains so accessible to all his constituents, a failing among many politicians.
One journalist recently remarked about Agbedi that if he gets to any community in the state, at least thirty persons would go out to meet him and exchange pleasantries due to the level of his grassroots mobilisation over the years.
Those who have had dealings with Agbedi would readily tell you he is a different breed who picks calls and replies text messages; maybe, that was the reason he trekked for about two hours on a muddy and slippery road, fell severally and in his muddied clothes got to a community to inspect a school building project.
It is this kind of service to his constituents, who voted him into the House of Representatives to represent them and influence the siting of development projects in their communities through his legislation that his supporters want him to replicate as governor of Bayelsa State.
Bible scholars would tell you that King Solomon said a king ought not to listen to everything his servants say otherwise, he would hear them cursing him, but while it is so for most politicians who have refused to shed their medieval tendencies, Agbedi mixes with both the high and the low.
And, in today’s world, it is when a leader mixes with even the most lowly people that he would get to hear their criticism of his policies and programmes and therefore, understand their peculiar challenges as individuals, groups and communities.
This is the bedrock of the bottom-top approach to budgeting that modern governments employ in addressing the challenges of citizens of rural communities, which, unfortunately, fraudulent politicians pledge to implement, but jettison once they get into office.
So, when Agbedi talks about his blueprint for the development of rural communities, in particular, oil producing communities that are not benefiting from oil producing companies, federal, state and local governments, you are immediately convinced of his sincerity.
When he says rather than taking development from Yenagoa to the coast, he would take development from the coast to Yenagoa, you feel the pain burning deep inside him for far-flung rural dwellers who struggle everyday to travel to their local government headquarters in the absence of roads.
This is particularly true of people in Brass, Nembe, Southern Ijaw and Ekeremor Local Government Areas who travel by means of speedboats from one point to another due to absence of roads; they suffer at the hands of pirates who operate along the waterways.
So, why not resume work on the construction of the Yenagoa – Koluama Road from Koluama, Nembe – Brass Road from Brass and Sagbama – Agge Road from Agge for those rural communities to realise that government feels their pain too?
Why not link all the coastal communities from Agge through Koluama to Brass and Odioma by a coastal highway by bringing in all the multinational oil companies and the Federal Government so that all the parties involved undertake the construction of different stretches of the road?
This is the kind of approach to the development of the state that has escaped many governments in the past, but so possible that with little effort so much can be achieved when all the stakeholders in the oil and gas industry are involved.
As a grassroots man who is not far away from his people, there is the belief that he would not globe-trot like some governors who spend so much time outside the state that they fail to connect with the soul of the state.
Of all the governors, only former President Goodluck Jonathan spent much time in the state in his short spell as governor; others could go away for days on end, arguing that they were on important national assignments while the state stood still until they returned.
Agbedi struck an important cord when he assured of domiciling Bayelsa money in Bayelsa, supporting Bayelsa business people to become national and international players in order to attract more investments into the state.
While addressing correspondents in Yenagoa on his Onward Restoration & Transformation agenda for Bayelsa State, a conversational Agbedi gave an insight into how his administration would transform the economic fortunes through deliberate policies if elected governor.
Listening to him, correspondents could not help but applaud his ingenuity and manner he presented his blueprint which covers all the critical sectors of the economy and how he would involve all the stakeholders in addressing specific issues.
For instance, he disclosed that rather than worrying over the vagaries of the price of crude oil in the international market, his administration would look to palm oil to lift the local economy out of the woods and generate much needed internal revenue.
Comparing the price of crude oil per barrel which is below $60 and palm oil which is $520 per barrel, he explained why his administration would focus on and manage the state-owned Bayelsa Oil Palm Estate for profitability rather than relying on monthly allocations from the centre.
As a man who has a clear understanding of the plight of oil producing communities in the state, he assured that he would establish the Bayelsa State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (BASOPADEC) to domicile funds for their development.
On why he wants to be governor of Bayelsa State, Agbedi explained his understanding of the office of a governor as that of a supervisor who must conduct checks and be able to call his subordinates to order when necessary.
Hear him: “I realise that as a governor, your duty is to supervise and understand how to check, monitor and applaud your lieutenants when they have done well, the ability to call your lieutenants to order when you believe that they are straying out of the radar …”
Of his ambition, Agbedi described himself as the only professional politician gunning for the office of governor, saying: “I pride myself as a professional politician. I have been in politics for about four decades. I believe that am the only professional politician that is running for the governorship position in Bayelsa State.
“I am also a professional in many respects, as teacher, character moulder, trainer, a councilor. As somebody who studied English, I can expressly express the desire of my people and as graduate of Public Administration, I am an administration expert and for you to be a governor, you must have that competence which I have as a development study student, a development expert of course.”
On the issue of zoning, which some interest groups are using to undo him, Agbedi has maintained that there is no zoning to which many individuals, stakeholders and groups agree.
He ticks all the boxes and is qualified in all respects to become the next governor of Bayelsa State and a growing number of people believe in his Onward Restoration & Transformation Campaign to change the fortunes of the state.
Samuel Ese, Yenagoa
