Henry Seriake Dickson: A Pillar of Transparency.

Rt. Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, immediate past Governor of Bayelsa State, is currently the Senator representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District, an he stands head and shoulder above his peers as the most deserving recipient of this Transparency in Leadership Award.
Senator Dickson who turned 60 on February 28 stands out as the only governor who proposed a law on Transparency in government and went on to walk his talk by following through on that proposal.

He not only wrote and sponsored the bill to the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, he also followed up on it every step of the way until it was passed by the House. And when it was forwarded for the Governor’s consent, Dickson wasted no time in giving his consent and signing the bill into law.
That law would form a major guiding compass of his governorship – from 2012 to 2020.
By the provisions of that law, Dickson compelled himself as Governor, and subsequent governors after him, to give a monthly account to Bayelsans, of all the monies received by the state government, and the expenditures therefrom in an open public forum.
Failure of the governor to do so for three consecutive months constitutes an impeachable offence.
It waItinerary of the first bills Dickson, as Governor, sent to the State House of Assembly, and it was akin to opening the government’s books to scrutiny by just anybody.
Upon the passage of the transparency law, Gov. Dickson then constituted the state finance team, made up of 10 senior government officials, with the Commissioner of Finance as Chairman, and the Accountant General of the state as Deputy Chairman. The committee sat every month to analyze receipts and expenditures of the state.
It also sat every month with the Deputy Governor to decide the sectoral allocations to all ministries, parastatals and agencies, and then sent their recommendations to the governor for approval. That way, the Bayelsa State Deputy Governor is not shut out from the goings on in the finances of the state, as is the case with most states of the Federation.
It also broke the cycle whereby a governor, conniving with his Finance Commissioner and Accountant General would make phoney approvals and withdrawals, without the knowledge of the Deputy Governor, just to enable them embezzle money.
For the eight years that Henry Seriake Dickson was governor of Bayelsa, this law remained in full force, making it almost impossible for anyone (including the governor and his deputy) to steal government money.
The net result of this prudent management of Lan resources was that Bayelsa’s over N200bn debt which Dickson inherited was so drastically reduced that at the end of his second term in office, Bayelsa was the least indebted state in the South South zone, and one of the lowest in the country. Curiously, this was in spite of the big-ticket projects that the administration delivered. Meanwhile, the cumulative total amount that Bayelsa recamount for the eight years Dickson was governor came to about N1.050 trillion – an amount some of the present crop of governors budget for just one fiscal year.
It is also worthy of note that about four years, out of the total eight Dickson served as Governor were years of global economic meltdown. It took a lot of self denial and economic brinkmanship to keep the state above water, financially. It took the intervention of the Bailout approved by the Buhari administration, and the understanding and sacrifice of the state civil servants, who had to be placed on half salary for about four years for the state to make it out of the meltdown without incurring more debts.
However, all these did not stop life-changing, developmental interventions in Education, Health, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Aviation, Aviation, Environment,Peace and Security, Culture, Civil Service Reform and the renewed sense of pride Dickson gave to Bayelsans, the Ijaw Nation and the Niger Delta as a whole.
Today every major project in Bayelsa was either built, started or completed by Dickson as governor: Whether it is the N65b Bayelsa International Airport – built in the heart of swamp, the first flyover in the state, the Yenagoa to Amassoma road, with eight bridges or even the N3b support for the Nembe road, which is not even a state government project, two new university – University of Africa, Toro Orua, the university of medical sciences, College of Education, among others.
On assumption of office as Governor, Dickson declared a state of emergency. He built, as well as renovated existing, primary schools secondary schools, introduced boarding schools for the first time in Bayelsa, built model schools – with ge crown jewel being the Ijaw National Academy. It was a school of excellence that drew candidates from not just Bayelsa, but from among Ijaws in other states like Delta, Rivers, Ondo etc. It runs a full scholarship and boarding house system, with the state government feeding the students free of charge and providing all their books, desks and even school uniforms. The pioneer headmaster of the academy was a Cambridge trained UK national.
As Governor, Dickson pursued an aggressive scholarship scheme which saw Bayelsa giving some 4000 local scholarships and 3000 foreign scholarships to deserving Bayelsans. The funding for the scholarships was programmed to be sustained partly through the rental incomes from real estate investments in the United States and United Kingdom, which the Dickson administration made on behalf of the state government.
Other investment which Dickson’s administration had the foresight of making for the state, through the Bayelsa Investments Development Company were the acquisition of the controlling shares in Linkage Assurance Company as well as investment in power generation and supply.
A clear 10 years before the federal government established the NELFUND, the Tertiary education loan scheme, Dickson’s government had established, by law, the Bayelsa scholarship board to which a percentage of the state’s revenue was paid for it’s operation. He had also started the practice of giving monthly subventions even to the federal tertiary institutions in the the state, like the federal university in Otuoke.
Dickson’s administration was also strong on Healthcare, with a string of General Hospitals, cottage hospitals, medical centres, diagnostic centre across the state, when even complicated surgeries were regularly carried out. This saw Bayelsa gradually attracting patients from even outside the state.
Maternal and infant mortality which were very high in the state suddenly came down to the lowest in the region, helped in no small way by the fact that the administration not only encouraged ante natal registration, but also paid pregnant women a token for the nine months of their pregnancy, and even for three more months after delivery.
And then there was the massive investment in peace and stability. And it went beyond just setting up operation Do – Akpo. It involved reorganizing the state volunteer arrangement he inherited and taking politicization out of it.
The Gen.Owoye Azazi Command and control centre, built and equipped by the administration, also came into the security mix.
So, from inheriting a state of incessant daily killings and kidnappings, Dickson deployed all his experience as policeman, lawmaker, Attorney General and no-nonsense personal leadership style to make Bayelsa the most peaceful and stable state not only in the Niger Delta, but in the country as a whole.
Henry Seriake Dickson has continued his crusade for a better Nigeria in the National Assembly where he currently represents Bayelsa West in the 10th Senate, having been re-elected from the 9th Senate. He simply picked up from where he left off as a member of the House of Representatives before the call to duty to serve as Governor came.
Undoubtedly one of the most recognize voices in the Senate, Dickson remains an advocate, democracy, due process, equity, fairness and justice.
He can always be counted upon to stand with the people, and lend his voice, intellect and all to every cause that stands to better the lot of the people, in keeping with his philosophy of serving God through service to humanity . Understandably, these have also endeared him to Nigerians rich and poor across all divides – political, ethnic, religious and social standings.
It is for these and several other sterling qualities that we the 27 partner Civil society Organizations in Nigeria deem it fit to bestow this award of champion of transparency in public service to Rt. Hon. Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, CON.
4. Personal Integrity and the “Rented Apartment” Philosophy
The ultimate test of a leader is their relationship with public wealth. In a political culture often characterized by opulence, Senator Dickson’s personal lifestyle serves as a stinging rebuke to greed:
• The Rented Home: Throughout his eight-year tenure as Governor, he maintained a rented apartment in Abuja rather than using state funds to acquire a palatial mansion.
• Modest Living: Even after six years as a Senator, his residence remains a modest home on the outskirts of Abuja.
This level of asceticism in power is unprecedented in the Nigerian Fourth Republic. It signals a leader who sees public office as a place of sacrifice rather than a “national cake” to be consumed.
Conclusion: A Blueprint for the Future
Senator Henry Seriake Dickson has proven that integrity is not a myth in Nigerian politics. By creating laws that could be used against him, respecting the financial independence of local governments, and maintaining a personal life of modesty, he has redefined the “frontiers of public accountability.”
Congratulations your Excellency!