Being governor for eight years can alter quite a lot in a person. It impacts on their spiritual, emotional, psychological and social states both positively and negatively even though onlookers only see the positive.
Reality sets in for most particularly if deliberate effort had not been made to discern what life beyond the office would be.
Being a confirmed workaholic and a highly cerebral and energetic person, the impact may not have been much for HSDickson because he had always maintained a simple and transparent lifestyle coupled with the fact that he consistently echoed his resolve to maintain his boundaries and not in any way interfere with the administration of his successor.
To the admiration of all, he has lived up to his ‘talk na do’ status again in this regard and against the expectation of all, has continued to maintain the cordial relationship between himself and his successor, a very unpopular and uncommon trait for political predecessors in Nigeria today.
As admirable and commendable as HSDickson’s position may be, its negative impact almost outweighs the positive in the sense that the political brand he promoted as well as the development momentum he generated in all sectors have since suffered consistent depreciation.
Under the current administration, Bayelsans have witnessed the unexpected and gradual collapse of the health, education, security and infrastructural sectors.
The political space seem to be quiet at the moment only because the current administration has taken advantage of the leadership rift bedeviling the leading opposition party in the state. The true political status of the state will be revealed once the leading opposition party corrects their issues.
It appears HSDickson’s governance template was either deliberately discarded or it was difficult to comprehend. As such one would have expected more consultations between successor and predecessor as witnessed copiously in the previous administration.
In my opinion, HSDickson’s distance has caused more harm than good for Bayelsa and it is time he gets actively involved as the backlash on his successor is gaining momentum by the hour with issues of transparency, lack of accountability and clarity in vision on the front burner.
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