Caleb Olubolade had seen enough of Bayelsa State over the last 26 years to appreciate the value of the work he had done in his pioneering efforts to raise the profile of the state. Many years after he left office, he could still identify roads that were constructed with interlocking stones. That was his construction signature in the days he hired direct labour on project sites. The first road project — Government House Drive — began like that. The coffers of the state were not healthy enough to afford the services of construction giants like Julius Berger or his Nigerian cousins. But that was in the past.
Even as Olubolade drove into Yenagoa on the eve of his 70th birthday anniversary, he could not miss the fact that Julius Berger was reconstructing the access between Melford Okilo Road and Sani Abacha Expressway, by Opolo Roundabout. It is a link road that could easily be called Olubolade Way for the simple reason that he was the first to open up that road with interlocking blocks. He did such a perfect job of it that, when Diepreye Alamieyeseigha came into office as the first civilian governor of the state, he replicated the same interlocking block design for the connecting roads inside the first Commissioners’ Quarters.
Olubolade, then a Navy Captain, was conscious of the fact that he had been invested with the full powers of the Head of State to develop the state in all ramifications. Like a sturdy tree, he was expected to grow upward by growing downward first. Like a giant oak, he had to be a seedling first. Understanding the principle of growth as he did, Olubolade spent the next one year working sleeplessly on a master plan of his own. It had been brought to the notice of the Military Administrator that, indeed, a master plan had been conceived by the elders for the state capital, but it carried a price tag of eighty million naira.
Olubolade flinched when he heard that. What was the point of paying eighty million naira for the plan of a state capital when funds were in short supply? As far as he was concerned, the bill was too high. If Harcourt Adukeh, an architect of international standing could propose to plan the new state capital for N80 million, Olubolade, a son of Ipoti-Ekiti, can jolly well build the new state capital for far less.
What, anyway, are the basic facilities that any society needed to function optimally? He was there to provide security for the state, and the people must feel the impact of government on a daily basis. If he was able to provide the necessary public utility services, he would have done his part to uplift the rural eyesore he met. If he was able to build roads, supply electricity, and provide potable water, he would have done his best, and the evidence would be there for everyone to see.
Olubolade was no less bothered about the lack of a public transport system. At that time, the number of vehicles in Yenagoa could be counted on all ten fingers. Cars were so few and far between that, in the evenings, people spread their mats along the only tarred road, and enjoyed fresh air until the mosquitoes drove them inside.
In fact, the very first set of government vehicles to drive into Yenagoa were branded with the logo of the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP). The programme was the vessel of the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources under the control of Dr. Steve Azaiki, the young Russian-trained agricultural expert who was quick at conceiving brilliant ideas as he was quick with making friends.
Over time, in a bid to initiate a local transport programme, Olubolade opened a vehicular workshop, and gathered a few disabled cars for refurbishment, all in a bid to put them at the service of commuters within the state capital. One of his front-page pictures at that time saw him driving one of the newly rehabilitated vehicles, dressed in his official white naval wear. It was a bold move to bring succour to the people, but an effective public transport system was not to be in place until the first civilian government under Alamieyeseigha.
Olubolade’s resume as a farmer in his own right came into reckoning when he accepted to head the ADP in Bayelsa State. With sufficient everyday push from Azaiki, the programme was expected to go far. Azaiki had read Agriculture and Agronomy in Moldavia, and his passion for farming was well known. It was an occupation trait he had acquired from his mother.
Legend has it that the old woman expected her beloved son to become a medical doctor, especially when he left Nigeria to study abroad. When Azaiki graduated and returned home, however, the woman wondered why he wasn’t wearing a stethoscope around his neck like every other doctor. Sinikiem told his mother that what he studied was called agriculture. The patient woman asked to know what that long word meant.
‘It means farming’, said the hopeful son.
‘You mean you went all the way to Russia to learn how to farm’?
‘Yes, mother’.
‘Why didn’t you tell me so the first time? You might as well have stayed back in Yenibebeli, and helped me out with the farm work. What is it about farming that your mother doesn’t know’?
Azaiki smiled to himself. His mother had a point. He learnt at her feet, and that was precisely why he went ahead to earn a doctorate degree in farming and everything to do with farming. In fact, when Azaiki took office as pioneer Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Olubolade’s government, he drew up a programme for agricultural development in Bayelsa.
The concept before him was so broad that it included domestic pets. That was how he designated a place for a botanical garden in the state capital, to start with, and plotted a large scale provision of veterinary healthcare services alongside animal husbandry and rotational crop management within small parcels of land.
He also expressed high hopes of pursuing the dream of an integrated rice supply programme with its hub in Peremabiri and Sampou, the extensive fields of rice famously known as capable of producing enough to feed the entire West African sub-region. It remains a long-term dream project, even for the current government in Bayelsa State.
