I. B. Theophilus was only too glad to speak about the days of Caleb Olubolade inside the Creek Haven, and to reminisce on the high points of that government.
In October 1996, at the infancy of Bayelsa, Theophilus served as Chief of Protocol, Government House, Yenagoa. He was among the nine staff of the state origin released by the Rivers State government to accompany the newly appointed Military Administrator, Navy Captain Phillip Ayeni, to the new state.
He remembers the offer made by Colonel Dauda Musa Komo, Military Administrator of Rivers State at the time. The colonel had told the captain to stay back in Port Harcourt and govern Bayelsa from the Rivers State capital for at least three months, until befitting structures were put in place for him to resume in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. Ayeni had taken a pointed look at Komo, and asked: ‘Are there no human beings living in Yenagoa’?
‘Of course, there are’, replied Komo.
‘Then I’ll go and live amongst them’, Ayeni said with finality.
The Colonel had no choice than to authorise the release of four senior officers of the River State civil service as well as five junior staff to go with them. On 7 October 1996, exactly one week after the creation of Bayelsa State, the Military Administrator, his ADC, Orderly and the designated civil servants left Port Harcourt. When the contingent arrived Yenagoa, the new state capital fitted the description given by General Sani Abacha from a distance. It was a glorified village.
Even Komo was right. There were no structures on ground. Nothing was in place to start a government.. The old Governor’s Lodge of Yenagoa Local Government Area, a modest one-storey building, was the most prominent structure on the landscape of the area known as Government House at that time. The house was deserted and bare of furniture.
The new Military Administrator felt let down, but then the people of the state started dropping by to see him, one by one. First came King Alfred Diette-Spiff, retired Navy Commander, first Military Governor of the old Rivers State, and paramount ruler of Twon-Brass. He came in the company of Ephraim Faloughi and Francis Bruce.
More people of goodwill, including Mrs Josephine Igodo, Love Amaseimogha, and Ella Douglas, amongst others, donated items to make the building habitable for the new Military Administrator. The building was quickly dusted up and doused in a new paint. Soon, chairs and tables found appropriate spaces in the rooms, and office work began in earnest.
The most senior staff who came with the new Administrator, Paul S. Obhuo, became Secretary to the Government and Head of Service. O.J. Oworibo became Principal Secretary, Government House, Ibaralanyo Theophilus became Chief of Protocol, and George Ikiomoton worked in the Governor’s Office. David Barigha, the photographer, and Godspower Pinadiri, the television cameraman, hovered around, waiting to capture the next action.
Make-shift office accommodation was swiftly improvised. The two NRC and SDP party secretariats of the just dissolved National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP)
came in handy. The SDP party secretariat near the Governor’s Lodge was converted to office space for the Governor. The NRC party secretariat in Ovom was handed over to the Nigeria Police. Rooms in Nitoko Hotel opposite Bishop Dimeari Grammar School were promptly acquired to accommodate the principal officers of Government House.
Two long buildings flanked the Governor’s Lodge. One provided accommodation for the ADC and Chief Security Officer, while the second became useful as Government House Clinic, with Dr. Patrick Tekenah, Personal Physician to the Military Administrator, in charge. In no time, more civil servants were released from Rivers to Bayelsa State, in spite of the acute office and residential challenge.
The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice David Koripamo Ungbuku, a noble son of the new state, relocated to Bayelsa along with every other judicial officer from the young state. The Civil Service Commission was set up with Chief Ngozi Theophilus appointed as pioneer Chairman. Two members of the Rivers State Executive Council, Mr. Ajobo of the Ministry of Finance, and Engineer Numoipre Wills, Commissioner for Works, also relocated to Bayelsa State. With all these officers in place, the government was fully constituted.
On Sunday of that week, the government was formally committed into the hands of God at an official thanksgiving ceremony held at the old Yenagoa motor park, which was to give way eventually to the Sports Complex. Ayeni was in the mood for work. He consulted widely with the people of Bayelsa. His office was open to one and all, and his goodwill was evident. His hopes for the young state were high, and his pronouncements in the popular press showed him to be concerned about the plight of the people. He had even drawn up a list of cabinet members that would work with him to bring out the best for Bayelsa.
One morning, however, when the convoy was set to leave for Abjuja on a national assignment, Ayeni could not get out of bed. Apparently overwhelmed by thoughts of the mammoth challenge before him in the face of scarce resources, he had suffered a severe stroke. Frantic efforts to resuscitate him came to no avail. He was air-lifted to the Shell medical facility in Port Harcourt, and eventually flown to Germany. He never returned to Bayelsa.
The Police Commissioner on ground, Habu Daura was immediately appointed in an acting capacity, with limited powers, on 28 February 1997. He acted for about four months. His duty, essentially, was to keep the peace, and pay the salaries of workers, before a substantive administrator would be appointed. On 9 June 1997, Navy Captain Omoniyi Caleb Oluboade was announced as the new Military Administrator of Bayelsa State by General Sani Abacha, with full powers to develop the state.
