For nearly four years, since the dramatic twist that brought in Douye Diri to office as Governor of Bayelsa State on 14 February 2020, much attention has focussed on the former senator representing Bayelsa Central Senatorial District. The reason is not far-fetched: after successive governments in the State from 1999 have lived below expectation in addressing it's development challenges, Diri had promised to steer the state on a new development trajectory.

The Alamieyesiegha/Jonathan administration of 1999-2007 was riddled with crises, one of which led to the removal of the governor in 2005. After a lacklustre 5-year administration led by Timipre Sylva, punctuated by two interregnums, one within and another after, it took the coming of Henry Seriake Dickson in 2012 for a meaningful direction to be created for the state's development. But not until Governor Douye Diri did the state embark on the present magnitude of aggressive development of the state physical infrastructure.

The Bayelsa 2023 governorship election fixed for November 11, will pitch incumbent Diri, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC). If the contest is a match-up of both men's performances in office as many people believe, the need becomes compelling to interrogate Diri’s performance even before his first term ends.

A riverine and estuarine state, Bayelsa is highly challenged topographically. It is submerged in mangrove swamps and lies almost entirely below sea level which has made the development of its physical infrastructure almost impossible. As the popular saying goes, Bayelsa is more delta than Delta State and has more Rivers than the neighbouring Rivers State.

Nowhere else has Diri excelled in office than in his determination to defy the odds and expand the existing network of roads in the state famous for its single entry/exit point.

Governor Douye Diri

Late last month, members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors took time off from their retreat in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, to see some of the projects that have earned the government plaudits across the country. Coming a few days after the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III had inaugurated the 10.2 kilometer Gloryland dual carriageway, the project tour was revealing indeed.

The state government's partnership with Zipline for real time distribution of needed drugs to rural health centres would appear to be Governor Diri’s most outstanding project. But it is nowhere near the massive investment in road infrastructure, especially the deliberate plan to connect all local government headquarters and open up areas never before reached by road.

It was exciting watching over a dozen drones take off in turns with small packs of needed drugs to riverine and unreachable areas, and return seamlessly within minutes to the central drugs depot in Yenagoa. It is even more exciting for the health workers who make the drugs requisition online, stand outside and watch their packs drop within minutes, conveniently in front of their governments health facilities. The drone have been programmed for pin-point accuracy across all facilities within the state, under any weather conditions.

Equally impressive is the ongoing effort to turn the vast Bayelsa swamps into hectares of rice farms. For a state with a preponderance of business interests in oil and gas, the government's desire to steer the populace towards farming is quite notable. So far, it has cultivated over 150 hectares of rice farm in Otuasega and other places across the state, not necessarily as a business venture but to sensitise people and businesses to rice farming.

Going by what David Alagoa, the state Commissioner for Agriculture said, the initiative is yielding fruits. Businesses and corporate organisations including the National Youth Service Corps are gearing up to take advantage of the program to cultivate over 4000 hectares in the soil-rich state.

The Yenagoa ring road, the 21km Elebele-Igbogene road and the new Yenagoa city link road are three of the landmark roads that are redefining the once-sleepy state capital. But in terms of its significance to opening up the rural areas, the recently completed 42km Sagbama-Ekeremor road, the 21-kilometer Nembe-Brass road and the Yenagoa-Oporoma road will count as the real game changers.

Not only will they heighten socio-cultural activities in the areas, the potential for increased economic activities in the hinterland is huge. The Yenagoa-Oporoma road which will connect the Southern Ijaw LGA with a large navigational bridge, for instance, is novel. When completed as promised before the end of Diri’s first term, it will mark the first time motor vehicles will drive into the oil rich Southern Ijaw.

With one of the largest oil and gas reserves in the country, there exists no accessible road into the Brass area as a whole. Over the years, multinational corporations have accessed their facilities there by hopping in and out with helicopters. With the new road from Nembe to Brass underway, Governor Diri is determined to break the jinx. This project not only resonates with most people in the state, it heightens expectation among the multinationals that the jetty proposed into the nearby Atlantic ocean may finally be realised.

 Timipre Sylva

How Diri’s performance will impact the forthcoming November governorship election, is anyone's guess. Former governor Timipre Sylva does not appear a good match in the circumstances and less than six weeks into the election, his campaign is yet to gain any traction against that of the incumbent. His performance in his first outing was anything but impressive, and not many remember the tenure with fond memories.

Many say he has very little in concrete terms to showcase in his years of public service, including the period he served as minister of state for Petroleum under the Buhari presidency. That perception of lacklustre performance record has now become his major albatross going into the governorship contest.

Added to that is his broken promise never to run for the office of governor again. After receiving commendations for that principled position, he did a volte face last year and entered the race, inelegantly muscling out David Lyon from the contest. Lyon who was the obvious front-runner in the APC at the time, had missed being sworn in as governor in 2020 by a hair-breath when a court judgment upturned his victory a day to inauguration.

Rather than inherit the huge goodwill that propelled Lyon's impressive outing four years ago, Sylva’s candidature has thrown the APC in Bayelsa state into turmoil. The crisis that followed the controversial primaries that schemed out Lyon and other credible contenders, has split the party leaders into opposing camps. It is a fire that is threatening to consume Sylva’s ambition of a second stint in Creek Haven, the state's seat of power.