On the 25th and 26th of October this year we embarked on a voter awareness campaign in Yenogoa and Amassoma as our contribution to peaceful and credible elections in Bayelsa State. We showed our film ‘Terkula’ to an audience of over three hundred people. The film tells the story of a student who had the opportunity to see the future of Nigeria in 2025 based on the action of her citizens in the present. Our goal was to sensitize the people on the importance of performing their civic responsibility and defending their votes.
A few days before this event, I wrote about my disappointment on the quality of leadership the people of the Niger Delta have had for over sixteen years by one political party. It was so painful to see dilapidated roads and no presence of the semblance of infrastructural of human development in this region of Nigeria. A region that is responsible for most of the country’s revenue, yet her people live in abject poverty and underdevelopment.
Coincidentally, it had just rained and the entrance into Yenagoa was flooded; houses were submerged in water, children were making some money from transporting people with canoes from the major roads to their houses since their streets had been taken over by water. Schools closed down till the water subsides.
So when the Governorship election results were announced in favour of the APC I was not surprised. How can a people remain under siege in their own land? I believe Bayelsans decided that enough was enough and decided to change the political landscape this time. I hope the new government performs far better than the previous governments in the last sixteen years. I hope other so called political strongholds like Delta State wake up to the reality that the people can decide to change a government when they do not feel well served.
