Why I Want To Be Governor Of Bayelsa State - Moses Siasia...
Thirty three years old Moses Siasia has said his dream is to see the youths of Bayelsa liberated from leaders who do not have them at heart.
Siasia who is the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) in this interview with Naij.com spoke on his chances at the December 5 election, his plans to develop the oil rich state and to liberate the youths.
Read excerpt from the interview below:
You are about to begin your campaign, what’s the reception from Bayelsa like towards your candidature?
Well things are going on well we really appreciate the level of support, overwhelming support we are receiving from our people most importantly our youths and women. This is the first time in the history of Bayelsa state. We have picked a woman as the deputy governorship candidate for the December 5th election and I believe women play a very strategic role when it comes to re-engineering of every society.
This is one of the surest ways my candidature will turn the challenges we have as a people to windows of opportunities and I believe the people are catching up. I believe we will get there on step at a time. You know they say one with God is a majority so we continue to trust God to lead us and because our minds are very clear to bring about the total liberation of our people and to take them to freedom. We also ensure on our own part we deliberately create sustainable live hood for every Bayelsa. We have delivered our manifesto to Bayelsans. Everybody is quite pleased with our level of promises and we believe when we get the mandate from Bayelsans, we will ensure every promise we made we keep to it.
Your opponents seem to have more base than you do you think you can match them or give them a run?
They are doing their own am also doing my own. Am not here to speak for any camp am here to speak for my own camp because am somebody that put a lot of energy in what am doing. I won’t come and advertise or publish anybody.
Whatever opportunity I have I will sell my program and my project to our people and to the Nigeria people. Am going to do things differently because a lot of people have thought am going to fight APC or the PDP. Some of them are disappointed today because am not playing politics of bitterness rather I’m playing politics of issues, issues bag politics. And I believe what brings us together is greater than what tears us apart. Anything we do today even in politics people will form opinion about us. So it’s not a do or die thing. Politics is not do or die.
Leadership is service and trust by your people so if you don’t have that as you culture, as a mentality or as an attitude you are not fit to be a leader. But surprising today some of these forces have actually brought pains to some families. You see with the advent of the primaries a lot of people were hospitalized a lot of people were killed these are.
This is what modern day politics according to some of our leaders have brought to our people. We are not towing that line rather we are towing an issue base political front and trying as much as possibly to get everybody and get an all-inclusive campaign so that everybody will get to understand what we do and what we are willing to do for our people.
Why do you want to become governor of Bayelsa state?
People who are not residing in Bayelsa have a different perception about what the reality on ground. Because today after 17 years of democracy in Bayelsa state no airport and we are less than a million people 65% out of school children we have a high level of teenage pregnancy, infant mortality rate, 85 to 90% youth unemployment.
This issue is so worrisome there is no pipe borne water in Bayelsa. There are still using Hausa people to supply water, no light. These are crucial issues that bother on development. Am playing an issue base politics even our civil servants, they are not receiving the best kind of welfare. The market women, they don’t have the best environment. The work force is bleeding at the moment so this are critical issues and we are playing issue based politics where we are proffering critical solutions to all these challenges faced by our people.
I have only two-point agenda but that doesn’t means we are not going to take care of critical sectors of the Bayelsa economy. Now as a leader or as PDM governorship candidate for the December 5th governorship election, I have told my people that I will ensure I diversify the Bayelsa economy because we have a very huge main stead when it comes to agriculture and tourism. So that is the critical areas we will invest in with partnership with the private sector to make sure we make Bayelsa a one stop up when it comes to economy activities.
What are the two-point agenda that you have?
It’s just to encourage critical investment and also to use the Bayelsa resources to diversify into agriculture, tourism and commercialize social ventures. For instance there will be water parks. We targets to build water parks is to build museums we will also use that as a source of revenue booster for the state.
We will also build beach resorts in term of tourism where we can attract people to come to Bayelsa, conferences centers, technologies villages. Those are the critical thins we need to do to ensure we boost our revenue that is as in tourism. When you look at other areas like agriculture today Bayelsa is blessed with agricultural produces.
One thing I have said in our robust plan for Bayelsa we have what we called the agriculture value system that we are going to introduce in government. Now there is three focal areas we are going to concentrate in. 1 oil palm; 2 fisheries- where we are going to acquire a lot of fishing trowels and an established a fish processing plan. We are going to use it for local consumptions and exports.
In the area of plantain production we are also going to process plantain for local consumption. Today we have plantain chips people are looking for plantain chips everywhere in the world. People are looking for plantain flour as a substitute for garri and wheat that we are importing today. We are going to encourage a lot of plantain production so that we can use it to improve the economy main stead of the state and also in the area of rice.
We are going to have a lot of rice farms and also a mini plant where we are going to produce Bayelsa rice for local consumption and export. Today a lot of countries in the world are looking for rice. Bayelsa is going to t5ake that lead to ensure that my leadership will revolutionize the agriculture so we can use it to boost our economy we will not just be relying on federal allocations.
This boils down to the point I always make most of the leaders we have today are not thinkers, today the world is looking for substitute for oil. As a leader if you say you need the mandate of the people. Like some leader do today they complain and appeal to federal government for bailout. That means you were not ready to governor a people. If you are ready for leadership you have to take full responsibility in whatever happens to your state. So looking for bailout will not be our focal point we will never look for bailout. My government or my administration if am elected will not depend on federal allocations to survive we will look for other area where we can boost revenue for the state so that we can create sustainable livelihood for our people.
In terms of infrastructure we are going to encourage a lot of companies. We will encourage about 500 companies to come and invest in different sectors in Bayelsa. Now number one sector we are looking at is eco-tourism and blue sea economy where we can transform our water in to economic hub using riverine land mass that we have to create wealth and jobs for our people.
So that is what we are going to do. Talking about building a deep sea port and also having a ship building here there fabrication here in Bayelsa. We can feed the oil and gas industry which is very massive and I believe the robust plans that we have to bring about real transformation to Bayelsa we will not wait for federal allocation or revenue allocation so it is now that we need to start. If we don’t get it right this time I believe Bayelsans have a choice.
Like in my campaign I keep telling Bayelsans that they have a choice but as a leader I have to ensure they make the right choice in 2015 so we can take our state to the next level.
Militancy seems to be one of the key problems in Bayelsa, What is your plan to put an end to militancy?
We are the ones carrying the arms they are young boys like me. They are young people. It is because of the total neglect of my generation and some of us as young people we are not realizing that, that has been my concern that we are the ones entertaining the elder ones. Now we are saying we cannot entertain you anymore. We want to lead so that you can guard use for us to get to where we want to get to.
Now the issue of militancy and cultism in Bayelsa is on the increase. Now why? It’s because there is no inclusion in governance. They don’t see my generation as people that will help the state in terms of growth but what I will do as a leader is to create an all-inclusive government. Build a sustainable future for the young ones. I am not that leader that will give them guns rather I will give them what they will use to create a sustainable livelihood for themselves not guns I will create jobs. Not these jobs some governors are creating they say they want to create something for youths, they will say we have employed 2000 youths to be on the main road to control traffic.
These are not the kind of jobs am talking about, am talking about real jobs. So that our people can have safety some of them can take their children to school some of them can be responsible to their society to their families and to the world in general. In 4 years we can achieve all these but I believe with God we will create a lot of impact. And I want to say this that this the first time a man of my age in the history of Nigeria democracy will summon this courage to say he want to contest for governorship, if I get it right you can imagine the level of inspiration, the level of motivation I will give to a lot of young people in Nigeria and if I fail all of us have fail. That is why I want to have it and ensure I do what have never been done before.
Are Bayelsa Youths supporting your candidature giving that you are a 35 years old man?
I have been meeting with of them they are all stalk holders whether you like it or not. They are from Bayelsa, some of them are seeing reasons but you know its takes time to convince some people so we are still in the process of convincing some of them. But let me just state this what has led them to carry guns or what will lead you as a person to carry gun against the state or what would lead you to carry gun to express some state of grievance because some level of bitterness or some level of side lining or disillusion and all that if those issues are not there and we seat there as stakeholders and say okay lets rebuild Bayelsa state is it not a better thing who will carry gun everyone will be in peace.
Now the reason why our leaders have created wide and rule system is because they will continue to undermine my generations, they will continue to oppress the reasoning of my generation, they have continue to marginalize my generation so they want to continue to stay in power it is our own generation to look at ourselves the movers and shakers of the global world economy they are less than 35 years.
When I was growing up as a child there were skills acquisitions centers vocations training where are they now. So it takes a man who is economically blind or spiritually blind to engage in such conversion. My own leadership will bring such youths from that kind of oppression or demonic oppression they are going through.
If my children are schooling in the best university in the world, so I want Bayelsans to school in the best university in the world. How many men in the state that are supporting PDP or APC have houses in Abuja? But all of them have houses in Abuja. Somebody who careless about you future or that of your family you are supporting the person that means there is a spiritually problem. We are using the spiritually dimension.
Are you also playing politics of religion?
How can I play politics with religion? I cannot play politics with religion. I play politics with facts. You cannot go to church because you want the pastor to bless you politically or you want them to see you in church. God cannot be mocked. If I want to go to church is because I want to serve God, I’m not going to church to look for vote.
What’s your plan for the oil and gas sector since Bayelsa is an oil producing state?
We have a lot of gas in Bayelsa. Bayelsa has over 75% of Nigeria gas, our problem is not gas. Some of the investors we have had in Nigeria, in their business plan they also put down they will evacuate gas from Bayelsa through pipe to their gas facilities they have located in several areas in Nigeria.
So our problem is the evacuation of the gas so we can generate power to our people. Its takes a man that cannot think to put our people where they are. We will use that resources to generate power for our people and we will do that. In 4 years it is difficult to achieve 100% but one thing I have assured Bayelsa they should give me a chance we will achieve 80% of all this things it is achievable we don’t need to spend more we have the resources we lack the technology. What we need is to deplore the technology so that our people can benefit now in the area of oil and gas, oil and gas is very critical. Have we been able to invest in that area in terms of leadership? Bayelsa state has gained more politically than any other state and if you look at it history.
We use to have a president. We have produced three minsters of petroleum, we use to have a national security adviser but if you come to the state that is oil producing nothing to write home about. Now in the oil and gas industry to feed the onshore and off shore you need tank farm. How many tank farms do you have in Bayelsa how many oil jetties do we have in Bayelsa. Do you have any sea port in Bayelsa meanwhile we have the environment.
How many fabrication yards for E&P project in the oil and gas? Fabrication yards to service that upstream sector do we have in Bayelsa we are going to build one. The brass LNG project, why is it that it has not taken off despite the fact that we had people from that state. So these are questions we need to ask ourselves and we believe if we get the mandate from our people we are not only going to diversify the Bayelsa economy we are also going to use it to create wealth for our people.
It seems Yenagoa is the only developed city in Bayelsa, do you have plans to develop other areas of the state?
We are going to build 4 new towns in Bayelsa state. The first town will be Oloibiri. I have also engaged in foreign company that is willing to come and invest in Oloibiri. They have about 1.5 billion dollars to change that entire community to a city where you are going to have high rise building shopping mall, technology village, museums international conference center Oloibiri housing complex to feed the oil and gas industry; a one-stop-eco-city in Oloibiri.
Then the next point is Akasa we are going to have an entire new city in that Akasa area because of our beach and we are going to have a resort. The reason why we are doing that is because of the economy availability talking about the riverine are the sea between the Akasa, Brass and Nembe. We are going to build a new city in Kiama in Kolukoma Opukuma local govt. Then in Agirl that is where we are going to site the deep sea port.
As a youth who is your godfather?
I have no god father, people have been carrying news that am the former president boy that he is the one sponsoring me I have no connections, discussion and no support from the former president or the incumbent governor but the godfather I have is the people I have that want this real change. Is not all about money it’s the vision that brings about the wealth when you want to do something you don’t look at money first when you have a vision or goal you pursue it.
When you pursue it with truth and sincerity money will come. Some of my friends are supporting me in their little way and market women giving me support. Drivers have given me their supports. People are looking at the creditabity of a leader. Everything am doing is historic. Nobody has given me money so far but with the little we have we are trying to educate our people. Today everybody who is supporting me in this campaign I have not given 1 naira. I declared In Kiaima I did not mobilize one person.
We have over 6000 people that came for that event. I also unveil my manifesto in Bayelsa state I didn’t not give 1 naira for mobilization, so this is a movement for real change and I don’t have any god father.
Siasia who is the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) in this interview with Naij.com spoke on his chances at the December 5 election, his plans to develop the oil rich state and to liberate the youths.
Read excerpt from the interview below:
You are about to begin your campaign, what’s the reception from Bayelsa like towards your candidature?
Well things are going on well we really appreciate the level of support, overwhelming support we are receiving from our people most importantly our youths and women. This is the first time in the history of Bayelsa state. We have picked a woman as the deputy governorship candidate for the December 5th election and I believe women play a very strategic role when it comes to re-engineering of every society.
This is one of the surest ways my candidature will turn the challenges we have as a people to windows of opportunities and I believe the people are catching up. I believe we will get there on step at a time. You know they say one with God is a majority so we continue to trust God to lead us and because our minds are very clear to bring about the total liberation of our people and to take them to freedom. We also ensure on our own part we deliberately create sustainable live hood for every Bayelsa. We have delivered our manifesto to Bayelsans. Everybody is quite pleased with our level of promises and we believe when we get the mandate from Bayelsans, we will ensure every promise we made we keep to it.
Your opponents seem to have more base than you do you think you can match them or give them a run?
They are doing their own am also doing my own. Am not here to speak for any camp am here to speak for my own camp because am somebody that put a lot of energy in what am doing. I won’t come and advertise or publish anybody.
Whatever opportunity I have I will sell my program and my project to our people and to the Nigeria people. Am going to do things differently because a lot of people have thought am going to fight APC or the PDP. Some of them are disappointed today because am not playing politics of bitterness rather I’m playing politics of issues, issues bag politics. And I believe what brings us together is greater than what tears us apart. Anything we do today even in politics people will form opinion about us. So it’s not a do or die thing. Politics is not do or die.
Leadership is service and trust by your people so if you don’t have that as you culture, as a mentality or as an attitude you are not fit to be a leader. But surprising today some of these forces have actually brought pains to some families. You see with the advent of the primaries a lot of people were hospitalized a lot of people were killed these are.
This is what modern day politics according to some of our leaders have brought to our people. We are not towing that line rather we are towing an issue base political front and trying as much as possibly to get everybody and get an all-inclusive campaign so that everybody will get to understand what we do and what we are willing to do for our people.
Why do you want to become governor of Bayelsa state?
People who are not residing in Bayelsa have a different perception about what the reality on ground. Because today after 17 years of democracy in Bayelsa state no airport and we are less than a million people 65% out of school children we have a high level of teenage pregnancy, infant mortality rate, 85 to 90% youth unemployment.
This issue is so worrisome there is no pipe borne water in Bayelsa. There are still using Hausa people to supply water, no light. These are crucial issues that bother on development. Am playing an issue base politics even our civil servants, they are not receiving the best kind of welfare. The market women, they don’t have the best environment. The work force is bleeding at the moment so this are critical issues and we are playing issue based politics where we are proffering critical solutions to all these challenges faced by our people.
I have only two-point agenda but that doesn’t means we are not going to take care of critical sectors of the Bayelsa economy. Now as a leader or as PDM governorship candidate for the December 5th governorship election, I have told my people that I will ensure I diversify the Bayelsa economy because we have a very huge main stead when it comes to agriculture and tourism. So that is the critical areas we will invest in with partnership with the private sector to make sure we make Bayelsa a one stop up when it comes to economy activities.
What are the two-point agenda that you have?
It’s just to encourage critical investment and also to use the Bayelsa resources to diversify into agriculture, tourism and commercialize social ventures. For instance there will be water parks. We targets to build water parks is to build museums we will also use that as a source of revenue booster for the state.
We will also build beach resorts in term of tourism where we can attract people to come to Bayelsa, conferences centers, technologies villages. Those are the critical thins we need to do to ensure we boost our revenue that is as in tourism. When you look at other areas like agriculture today Bayelsa is blessed with agricultural produces.
One thing I have said in our robust plan for Bayelsa we have what we called the agriculture value system that we are going to introduce in government. Now there is three focal areas we are going to concentrate in. 1 oil palm; 2 fisheries- where we are going to acquire a lot of fishing trowels and an established a fish processing plan. We are going to use it for local consumptions and exports.
In the area of plantain production we are also going to process plantain for local consumption. Today we have plantain chips people are looking for plantain chips everywhere in the world. People are looking for plantain flour as a substitute for garri and wheat that we are importing today. We are going to encourage a lot of plantain production so that we can use it to improve the economy main stead of the state and also in the area of rice.
We are going to have a lot of rice farms and also a mini plant where we are going to produce Bayelsa rice for local consumption and export. Today a lot of countries in the world are looking for rice. Bayelsa is going to t5ake that lead to ensure that my leadership will revolutionize the agriculture so we can use it to boost our economy we will not just be relying on federal allocations.
This boils down to the point I always make most of the leaders we have today are not thinkers, today the world is looking for substitute for oil. As a leader if you say you need the mandate of the people. Like some leader do today they complain and appeal to federal government for bailout. That means you were not ready to governor a people. If you are ready for leadership you have to take full responsibility in whatever happens to your state. So looking for bailout will not be our focal point we will never look for bailout. My government or my administration if am elected will not depend on federal allocations to survive we will look for other area where we can boost revenue for the state so that we can create sustainable livelihood for our people.
In terms of infrastructure we are going to encourage a lot of companies. We will encourage about 500 companies to come and invest in different sectors in Bayelsa. Now number one sector we are looking at is eco-tourism and blue sea economy where we can transform our water in to economic hub using riverine land mass that we have to create wealth and jobs for our people.
So that is what we are going to do. Talking about building a deep sea port and also having a ship building here there fabrication here in Bayelsa. We can feed the oil and gas industry which is very massive and I believe the robust plans that we have to bring about real transformation to Bayelsa we will not wait for federal allocation or revenue allocation so it is now that we need to start. If we don’t get it right this time I believe Bayelsans have a choice.
Like in my campaign I keep telling Bayelsans that they have a choice but as a leader I have to ensure they make the right choice in 2015 so we can take our state to the next level.
Militancy seems to be one of the key problems in Bayelsa, What is your plan to put an end to militancy?
We are the ones carrying the arms they are young boys like me. They are young people. It is because of the total neglect of my generation and some of us as young people we are not realizing that, that has been my concern that we are the ones entertaining the elder ones. Now we are saying we cannot entertain you anymore. We want to lead so that you can guard use for us to get to where we want to get to.
Now the issue of militancy and cultism in Bayelsa is on the increase. Now why? It’s because there is no inclusion in governance. They don’t see my generation as people that will help the state in terms of growth but what I will do as a leader is to create an all-inclusive government. Build a sustainable future for the young ones. I am not that leader that will give them guns rather I will give them what they will use to create a sustainable livelihood for themselves not guns I will create jobs. Not these jobs some governors are creating they say they want to create something for youths, they will say we have employed 2000 youths to be on the main road to control traffic.
These are not the kind of jobs am talking about, am talking about real jobs. So that our people can have safety some of them can take their children to school some of them can be responsible to their society to their families and to the world in general. In 4 years we can achieve all these but I believe with God we will create a lot of impact. And I want to say this that this the first time a man of my age in the history of Nigeria democracy will summon this courage to say he want to contest for governorship, if I get it right you can imagine the level of inspiration, the level of motivation I will give to a lot of young people in Nigeria and if I fail all of us have fail. That is why I want to have it and ensure I do what have never been done before.
Are Bayelsa Youths supporting your candidature giving that you are a 35 years old man?
I have been meeting with of them they are all stalk holders whether you like it or not. They are from Bayelsa, some of them are seeing reasons but you know its takes time to convince some people so we are still in the process of convincing some of them. But let me just state this what has led them to carry guns or what will lead you as a person to carry gun against the state or what would lead you to carry gun to express some state of grievance because some level of bitterness or some level of side lining or disillusion and all that if those issues are not there and we seat there as stakeholders and say okay lets rebuild Bayelsa state is it not a better thing who will carry gun everyone will be in peace.
Now the reason why our leaders have created wide and rule system is because they will continue to undermine my generations, they will continue to oppress the reasoning of my generation, they have continue to marginalize my generation so they want to continue to stay in power it is our own generation to look at ourselves the movers and shakers of the global world economy they are less than 35 years.
When I was growing up as a child there were skills acquisitions centers vocations training where are they now. So it takes a man who is economically blind or spiritually blind to engage in such conversion. My own leadership will bring such youths from that kind of oppression or demonic oppression they are going through.
If my children are schooling in the best university in the world, so I want Bayelsans to school in the best university in the world. How many men in the state that are supporting PDP or APC have houses in Abuja? But all of them have houses in Abuja. Somebody who careless about you future or that of your family you are supporting the person that means there is a spiritually problem. We are using the spiritually dimension.
Are you also playing politics of religion?
How can I play politics with religion? I cannot play politics with religion. I play politics with facts. You cannot go to church because you want the pastor to bless you politically or you want them to see you in church. God cannot be mocked. If I want to go to church is because I want to serve God, I’m not going to church to look for vote.
What’s your plan for the oil and gas sector since Bayelsa is an oil producing state?
We have a lot of gas in Bayelsa. Bayelsa has over 75% of Nigeria gas, our problem is not gas. Some of the investors we have had in Nigeria, in their business plan they also put down they will evacuate gas from Bayelsa through pipe to their gas facilities they have located in several areas in Nigeria.
So our problem is the evacuation of the gas so we can generate power to our people. Its takes a man that cannot think to put our people where they are. We will use that resources to generate power for our people and we will do that. In 4 years it is difficult to achieve 100% but one thing I have assured Bayelsa they should give me a chance we will achieve 80% of all this things it is achievable we don’t need to spend more we have the resources we lack the technology. What we need is to deplore the technology so that our people can benefit now in the area of oil and gas, oil and gas is very critical. Have we been able to invest in that area in terms of leadership? Bayelsa state has gained more politically than any other state and if you look at it history.
We use to have a president. We have produced three minsters of petroleum, we use to have a national security adviser but if you come to the state that is oil producing nothing to write home about. Now in the oil and gas industry to feed the onshore and off shore you need tank farm. How many tank farms do you have in Bayelsa how many oil jetties do we have in Bayelsa. Do you have any sea port in Bayelsa meanwhile we have the environment.
How many fabrication yards for E&P project in the oil and gas? Fabrication yards to service that upstream sector do we have in Bayelsa we are going to build one. The brass LNG project, why is it that it has not taken off despite the fact that we had people from that state. So these are questions we need to ask ourselves and we believe if we get the mandate from our people we are not only going to diversify the Bayelsa economy we are also going to use it to create wealth for our people.
It seems Yenagoa is the only developed city in Bayelsa, do you have plans to develop other areas of the state?
We are going to build 4 new towns in Bayelsa state. The first town will be Oloibiri. I have also engaged in foreign company that is willing to come and invest in Oloibiri. They have about 1.5 billion dollars to change that entire community to a city where you are going to have high rise building shopping mall, technology village, museums international conference center Oloibiri housing complex to feed the oil and gas industry; a one-stop-eco-city in Oloibiri.
Then the next point is Akasa we are going to have an entire new city in that Akasa area because of our beach and we are going to have a resort. The reason why we are doing that is because of the economy availability talking about the riverine are the sea between the Akasa, Brass and Nembe. We are going to build a new city in Kiama in Kolukoma Opukuma local govt. Then in Agirl that is where we are going to site the deep sea port.
As a youth who is your godfather?
I have no god father, people have been carrying news that am the former president boy that he is the one sponsoring me I have no connections, discussion and no support from the former president or the incumbent governor but the godfather I have is the people I have that want this real change. Is not all about money it’s the vision that brings about the wealth when you want to do something you don’t look at money first when you have a vision or goal you pursue it.
When you pursue it with truth and sincerity money will come. Some of my friends are supporting me in their little way and market women giving me support. Drivers have given me their supports. People are looking at the creditabity of a leader. Everything am doing is historic. Nobody has given me money so far but with the little we have we are trying to educate our people. Today everybody who is supporting me in this campaign I have not given 1 naira. I declared In Kiaima I did not mobilize one person.
We have over 6000 people that came for that event. I also unveil my manifesto in Bayelsa state I didn’t not give 1 naira for mobilization, so this is a movement for real change and I don’t have any god father.
