The Governor of Bayelsa State, Henry Dickson, has lamented about the nonchalant attitude of Bayelsans. According to the governor in a social media chat, "Bayelsans are so lazy, they want everything free, they are not ready to work, how do i repair the turbine when no one is ready to pay for services"
Aside the statement by Governor Henry, the past Governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva during his tenure, expressed his dismay at the laid-back attitude of the citizens. He said during one of his interactive sessions that "it is saddening to note that indigenes of
the state are selling their employment slots in reputable companies at give-away prices of between N20,000 and N70,000." The then governor, who gave a graphic description of the thinking of an average Bayelsan, noted with sadness that they wanted everything free, bearing in mind that the state was the only state throughout the federation where the electricity is generated free. His words, "An average Bayelsan has also believed erroneously that we have money and that is why they want everything for free. In the education sector we pay nothing. The craze now is that everybody wants their children to be sent abroad by the government for free. In the health sector we pay for nothing, everybody is expected to be treated for free. The electricity we produce is for free. Even nobody wants to work; they prefer handouts. "When I first came as governor, my belief was very different. My belief was that if you create jobs, people benefits from those jobs. And one of the things when I came in was that I paid all contractors that were on site. I paid N900 million and we decided to complete all on-going projects before we plan new ones. "The idea was to stimulate the economy so that our people can do small jobs. And I was happy when I paid the money and there were many people working on the site. I went to those sites personally because there were still a lot of complaints on the streets on Yenagoa. sites personally that more than 500 people working on the sites they were all non-Bayelsans. I asked if there was any Bayelsan, there was none and I was shocked. That was when I know we have a problem. Because no matter how much you tried to stimulate the economy it would fly over the Bayelsan because our youths won't work. "I would give you another example - the community around Saipem protested that they were not being given jobs. We intervened and Saipem decided to give 70 quality jobs to boys from that community. The community nominated people to go and work there and I was happy that through our intervention we were able to create the jobs. Later I saw one of the boys and questioned him why he is not at work. "I later found out upon enquiry that he sold his space to an Igbo man for N40, 000 a month out of the N70,000 he is being paid and that is what all of them did. They sold all their spaces to Igbo people. You would send Bayelsans for training through oil companies; they sell their spaces to Igbo people and those acquire the necessary skills. They are happier to be on the streets of Yenagoa claiming every day that there is hunger. There is no economy that can grow like this. It is a very sad situation."
The then chairman of the forum, Chief Francis Doukpolagha, called on the government and the elders in the state to map out developmental programmes that would be aimed at improving the lots of the people in the state.
It seems the same issue the past government complained about is still reflecting itself to the present administration.
Aside the statement by Governor Henry, the past Governor of Bayelsa state, Timipre Sylva during his tenure, expressed his dismay at the laid-back attitude of the citizens. He said during one of his interactive sessions that "it is saddening to note that indigenes of the state are selling their employment slots in reputable companies at give-away prices of between N20,000 and N70,000." The then governor, who gave a graphic description of the thinking of an average Bayelsan, noted with sadness that they wanted everything free, bearing in mind that the state was the only state throughout the federation where the electricity is generated free. His words, "An average Bayelsan has also believed erroneously that we have money and that is why they want everything for free. In the education sector we pay nothing. The craze now is that everybody wants their children to be sent abroad by the government for free. In the health sector we pay for nothing, everybody is expected to be treated for free. The electricity we produce is for free. Even nobody wants to work; they prefer handouts. "When I first came as governor, my belief was very different. My belief was that if you create jobs, people benefits from those jobs. And one of the things when I came in was that I paid all contractors that were on site. I paid N900 million and we decided to complete all on-going projects before we plan new ones. "The idea was to stimulate the economy so that our people can do small jobs. And I was happy when I paid the money and there were many people working on the site. I went to those sites personally because there were still a lot of complaints on the streets on Yenagoa. sites personally that more than 500 people working on the sites they were all non-Bayelsans. I asked if there was any Bayelsan, there was none and I was shocked. That was when I know we have a problem. Because no matter how much you tried to stimulate the economy it would fly over the Bayelsan because our youths won't work. "I would give you another example - the community around Saipem protested that they were not being given jobs. We intervened and Saipem decided to give 70 quality jobs to boys from that community. The community nominated people to go and work there and I was happy that through our intervention we were able to create the jobs. Later I saw one of the boys and questioned him why he is not at work. "I later found out upon enquiry that he sold his space to an Igbo man for N40, 000 a month out of the N70,000 he is being paid and that is what all of them did. They sold all their spaces to Igbo people. You would send Bayelsans for training through oil companies; they sell their spaces to Igbo people and those acquire the necessary skills. They are happier to be on the streets of Yenagoa claiming every day that there is hunger. There is no economy that can grow like this. It is a very sad situation."
The then chairman of the forum, Chief Francis Doukpolagha, called on the government and the elders in the state to map out developmental programmes that would be aimed at improving the lots of the people in the state.
It seems the same issue the past government complained about is still reflecting itself to the present administration.
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