On Sunday, 29 June 1997, two days after he assumed office as Military Administrator of Bayelsa State, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade stepped out in his sports gear and took part in the Olympic Day Run. Participants and onlookers alike thought the Captain would only flag off the 10-kilometre race, duck into his car, and drive off to await the runners at the finishing point. But Olubolade proved them wrong.
He remembered his athletic days in Ipoti-Ekiti when he ran up and down the hills of Ekiti, chasing the wind. This was flat, level land without obstacles such as he surmounted in the Navy. He was used to endurance treks and long distance races. He had sufficient stamina to cover the mileage, and his enthusiasm as leader of the pack came as a boost. He was here to set an example as administrator of the new state, and this Olympic race was a good starting point.
Already, Paul Obhuo, the elderly Secretary to Government and Head of Service, had disappeared among the milling crowd, and Albert Alale, Special Adviser on Information, Youth, Sports and Culture was nowhere to be found. They had simply sneaked away. Key government functionaries, those whose files piled up his table, were few.
There were many more vibrant and active youths out to compete with him, all looking so excited and ready to go. The race began in earnest, and the new helmsman kept a nonstop pace until he breasted the tape at the Ministry of Women Affairs. Even when he had stopped, his chest heaving up and down, panting for breath, he kept jogging on one spot. His energy was all too evident.
The race brought with it a wholesome spirit of familiarity and freedom among runners and spectators alike. Olubolade said that much when he addressed the participants at the end of the event. The Olympic spirit, he said, had ushered in the ideals of peace, love and oneness. He assured the people of the state that he would build durable sporting facilities in the capital to enable young athletes compete favourably with their peers in other states. That was, in fact, the beginning of the dream for a sports complex.
On Monday, his first day at work, the young administrator demonstrated his reverence for the traditional institution when he paid a formal visit to the Chairman of the Traditional Rulers Council, King Joshua Igbugburu. The royal father was overwhelmed to see the new military administrator in his palace at Ekowe, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, that morning.
The King gathered his chiefs in council, and pronounced blessings upon his illustrious guest. Igbugburu took time to underscore the state’s terrible neglect and pledged his support to every prospect for growth and development. On his part, Olubolade enjoined the monarch to nip in the bud any act that may constitute a breach of the peace. He promised to address the matter of titular recognition and re-classification of chieftaincy stools as soon as he settled down to duty.
The following morning, the military administrator was set to hold his maiden meeting with members of the Executive Council. As soon as he took his seat in the Executive Council chambers, the Captain warned mischief makers at large to desist from acts that could destabilise the state. Anyone who did not have the interest of the state at heart, he said, deserved no respect, and he would deal summarily with anyone found wanting. To hear the voice of Olubolade was to hear the voice of General Sani Abacha, the Head of State, who appointed him. The very air in the hall stood still.
His eyes scanning everyone seated before him, he spelt out his will. Constant dialogue was important among members of the cabinet, he declared, so as to create room for positive ideas that would contribute to the development process. This first meeting provided him a chance to assess each Commissioner at first hand. He had inherited the list from his predecessor, and he was not in the frame of mind to dump it altogether, knowing that a great deal of lobbying had gone into making that list. Besides, there was no time for frivolities.
On Wednesday of that first week, Olubolade kept his promise to acquaint himself with the people at close quarters, and so began a tour of the Local Government Areas (LGAs). He wanted to meet the people at the grassroots, in the rural outposts of the Niger Delta, and he chose to navigate the creeks like a regular sailor.
The visit would afford him a personal perception of the people, see how they live from day to day, and place him in good stead to tackle the challenges of development that were so evident all around. It was raining that July morning, but Olubolade did not let that deter him.
Off he went to Ekeremor where the chairman of the council, Hon. Benadoumini Dein, a lawyer, was waiting with an emotion-laden address. Indigenes of the area, to say nothing of visitors, could only get to the local government headquarters by travelling through neighbouring Delta State, for lack of a direct access.
Dein recounted the tragedy of a wealthy LGA, home to a large deposit of crude oil, which could not boast of even one single kilometre of motorable road. Pipe-borne water was out of the question. The people lived in darkness as a matter of course. What’s more, their schools were poorly equipped and their hospitals were in shambles.
It was a pathetic narrative with which Olubolade would become familiar wherever he went in the state. He was also abreast with stories of violence and communal conflicts. In Nembe, for instance, Olubolade called on the people of Obolomabiri and Bassambiri to resolve their differences and live in brotherly harmony.
The crisis between the two communities had become intractable over the years, and the captain was to witness it under his watch. In very clear terms, he called for peace to be given a chance. He had earlier made the same call when he paid a courtesy visit to Justice Ambrose Allagoa, Mingi XI, Amanyanabo of Nembe. It was a message he carried over from the reception held in his honour at Brass earlier that Thursday.
On Friday, the tour took him to Sagbama where he commissioned the Sagbama Club House situated within the council secretariat. He drove on to Kaiama, met with the elders and people of Boro’s hometown before returning to Yenagoa just before dark.
The tour had taken all of the working week, and Olubolade was grateful for it. He had met with the young and old, men and women in the creeks, and he could jolly well say he had become better acquainted with the land and people he was sent to govern. After that hectic schedule, after that adventurous trip around the state, after all the speeches and the jubilant reception for him, the quiet of Government House was like a haven of peace.
