From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Special Assistant on Special Duties at the Niger Delta Development Commission( NDDC) before emerging All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate for the Sagbama/ Ekeremor Federal Constituency, Mike Bless Olomu has said what is driving him to contest the 2023 election is the urge to give the people of the federal constituency quality representation.
Olomu, who said his life and pedigree is about service to humanity believes President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to security agencies to stay clear of partisanship and the introduction of BVAS by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will ensure a free and fair election.
What is driving your interest to contest this election?
I am passionate about development. I am passionate about growth. I am passionate about our people being placed or being among those that will be placed in the federal establishment. Our people are backward and neglected. Our people have not had that fair share when it comes to federal sharing of things due for them, so those are my drives, where we will be able to use our experience at the federal level to galvanise support and bring development to the people of Sagbama/ Ekeremor Federal Constituency.
There has been a two- time House of Representatives member, how feasible is it to upstage him?
Well, the truth is that somebody has been there for two tenures , even in old River State, he was also there before the military took over in the office. He was representing us and now he has been there for 7 years and 5months precisely. You can go around the Sagbama/ Ekeremor constituency and see that there are no meaningful federal projects. As a people, we all know about the federal constituency projects. In Sagbama/ Ekeremor, we all know what our friends, Hon Preye Oseke( Southern Ijaw Federal Constituency) and Israel Sunny Goli) Nembe/ Brass Federal Constituency have done for their people. Both are first timers and you can see they are the talk of Bayelsa of today, with what they are doing, with what is on ground and these are all APC representatives’ members. And then if you are able to send a young man who is versatile in knowledge, language and experience, there will be more projects that will come to our people. Whether you like it or not, the House of Representatives is being run by the younger generation between 35 and 50. They are the players of the House of Representatives but you know when you have somebody that is well experienced and has been there since 1991 in power and all that will interest them is what I will get, what I will do for myself. You know when you allow the self preservation syndrome to take hold of you, you will see that the people will suffer because the zeal will not be there. You know an average Ijaw man is a proud man who can’t go to a younger man who is a committee chairman to beg that his people need development. I am a young man that can reach out to all these people. You should also know that the National Assembly is being controlled by the Yoruba and Hausa and these are our friends. I speak Yoruba and Hausa and Igbo and it will be easier for me to be able to interact, relate with them and language as you know is power. Someone that you understand his language and you speak it, he will have trust and confidence in you. You will be able to lobby and persuade him to attract more projects to our people. The basic thing is what our people get? What is coming to Sagbama/ Ekeremor people? In my own time I have not held any executive position, I have not been elected but in the little position I have occupied as a Special Assistant and we all know the role of a Special Assistant because you are more or less a messenger to your principal, I have been able to attract several projects not only to Sagbama/ Ekeremor but Bayelsa as a whole. For emphasis, these projects are all from the National Assembly through federal agencies. Why was I able to get them? This is because I have contact across the country. My friends are there and we approached them and let them know we are from the oil producing state, we are from the Niger Delta and we need all these things, and they all graciously ask for them in their various budgets. It is about an individual, what have you brought home to the people. In seven years what has the present representative brought for the people.
It is not only about the state government, the state government cannot do it alone, that’s why we need the support from the Federal Government, we have a federal minister and we have other agencies of government that will also attract meaningful projects to the people. And when that is done, you will see that the government at the state will have peace because some things will come from the federal government, while others will come from the state.
Recently, NDDC brought a lot of palliative to the state and they handed it over to the state because the President directed that it should be given to various states that were affected by flood. These are ways of cushioning the effect of flooding in the various state governments.
We are not doing badly, we have done our own and the electorate have seen what we are doing. This time, it is going to be one man one vote. With the introduction of BVAS, there will be no more incident form, security will play a neutral role because they have been directed by the President to stay clear from the election. They are not going to be part of the election and they would allow the Sagbama/ Ekeremor people to cast their votes. So this election basically is not going to be about the party, it is about the individual. What have you done in the little God has given you as a state agent? What did you use it for, did you use it for your family yourself alone or did you use it to better the life of the ordinary Bayelsan?
For us , we are selfless. Since 2016, I have started the Mike Olomu Foundation and we have been going to the community giving out materials to secondary schools, carrying out free medical outreach; all these are what I am doing personally. I have not been a House of Representatives member; I have not been elected as a local government chairman but we have been touching lives from 2016 till date.
You sound so confident that you can defeat the incumbent, what gives you that assurance?
My confidence is performance. I am tested and trusted. From 2008 to 2012, I was SA Students Affairs and people can tell you what happened within the student community. Bursaries were well paid because you had somebody who has been a student union leader. It was based on my convincing argument to the Executive arm of government that those payments were made because the governor knows that Mike Olomu has the capacity to manage the affairs of students. At a point, scholarship were not being paid but I took it over and scholarships were paid as at when due because if a scholarship amount is about N500 million, the state government might not have N500 million to release at that time; all we need to do is to convince the state government on how we can pay; we will be able to sort out their school fees and probably stipend.
I went to NDDC; I was an ordinary Special Assistant on special duty. I was the pioneer officer holder with no overhead but to the glory of God, I have attracted over 30 kilometres of road to Bayelsa State. The roads there are well constructed, Bayelsans are using it, it is not APC members that are using it.
Today we are laying asphalt in my community, in the history of my community, there have not been any asphalt. We are also making another history by taking Solar Light to Adagbabiri, Sagbama, Ogonbiri, Torubeni, and we are doing it in Angalaibiri. All these are efforts that are coming from the federal agency. I am not a House of Representatives member but these things are coming from the National Assembly. So, if given the opportunity, to go there, it is not about the number of years you have spent in the Green Chambers, it is about performance, it is showing your capacity, it is showing working, we are tested, we are trusted and if we get there we are going to do better than whatever thing they have done .
If you are voted in, what are your priorities?
Well, the basic thing I think we must do and the realistic thing is infrastructure and empowerment. Those are the basic things I think and as a lawmaker, you are not the one awarding the job, your responsibility is to legislate and ensure that your people are well represented. To the best of our knowledge, we have not been elected and our people in our own small capacity with the position we have occupied, our people have been well represented. So we believe that if we are sent to the Green Chamber with our wealth of experience, with our little relationship with all other ethnic groups across the six geopolitical zones, the sky will be our limit. Our people will want us to be because we are going to perform. I have earmarked all the capital projects I will do, I will not want to say it out , already by the special grace of God, we have gotten projects that will ensure that every community is well represented. In 24 months, most of our communities will have solar light, solar water, rural and asphalt roads. In terms of employment we have the capacity, we have done it, we would be able to galvanise agencies such that our people will be accepted.
In terms of empowerment, we are going to partner with a lot of individuals to see how we can give soft loans to a lot of traders, some of them just N50,000, N100,000, N150,000. We would cater for those that want to go into fashion design, welding and few other things. Also those that want to join the security agencies.
I am determined to serve and willing to be a servant leader. We are going to continually have town hall meetings where we will interact with our people and know what they want. And this time, it is the people that will tell us what they want so that they will have an opportunity to attract projects. We would be going to various communities to seek their support to ask them what areas they want us to come in. It is their immediate needs that would dominate our approach and what we intend doing.
Sagbama/ Ekeremor is a stronghold of PDP, how do you intend to break that?
I can confidently tell you that it is no longer a stronghold of PDP. We have seen the rise of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). SDP is not known anywhere but as of today, they have candidates across Bayelsa. They are waxing stronger. We also have the Labour Party. But now we are talking about competence. Everybody who is contesting in a particular kind of election in one way or the other must have done one or two things or must have occupied a position. Let us give stewardship of our previous positions and ask how impactful that place has been. The records are there and they are clear and our people are wiser, it is one man, one vote. Thank God for President Buhari on the issue of vote buying and the CBN directive on cash. This would now make the people look at who is that person that is there for us to support and Mike Olomu is the answer because he has been doing it; he is doing it and will continue to do it. I am going to the Green Chamber to attract development and projects for our people because we have been doing it even when we are not there and we will continually do it.