….. Dickson leaves his ghost to wander
Diepreye Alamieyeseigha died and faded into the night. He went silently and poorly into the deep, dark night. But unlike many a departed public officer, he did not receive a state burial.
The former governor of Bayelsa is yet to be interred six feet under the earth hence he probably wanders dissatisfied, like a tormented wraith seeking peace in unlikely places. Nobody knows the fate of the former governor of Bayelsa State but the whole of Bayelsa knows that almost two months after he died of heart and kidney failure, Diepreye’s body and spirit are yet to be accorded the luxury of a cold, bare grave.
And the reason is not far-fetched; Seriake Dickson, incumbent governor of Bayelsa is too busy seeking reelection against his nemesis and archrival, Timipreye Sylva, former governor of the state. As Bayelsa State prepares for December 5 gubernatorial election, the state governor, Dickson, has been preoccupied with campaign activities, leaving the ghost of Alamieyeseigha to wander because it is a popular belief in Africa that the unburied dead wanders troubled and unseen among mortals.
Diepreye’s last days on earth easily triggers rumination on the futility of transience of life and the futility of human existence. After amassing wealth for himself as a governor, he was impeached, jailed and was issued a state pardon by his political godson and former President Goodluck Jonathan. Since, Diepreye dwelt like a recluse, living far away from public spectacle, while he struggled to deal with the shame of his past. However, bolstered by the support given him by former President Jonathan.
When his health condition worsened, he refused to travel abroad for medical treatment for fear of being arrested in foreign land. Hence he began to patronize a local hospital which was something odd among Nigerian political bourgeoisies. However, his lack of access to quality healthcare, unavailability of good medical equipment in indigenous hospitals – largely due to their gross mismanagement by the government of which Diepreye himself was part of – resulted in his untimely death.
Despite the fact that Dickson promised to give Diepreye a state burial, he is yet to fulfill his promise. Rather, he is busy slugging it out with Sylva in heated contest for Bayelsa’s most coveted political office.
By December 10, it will be two months after the former governor of Bayelsa state bid the world farewell, yet he is yet to be laid to rest. This has become a source of dissatisfaction and shame to many of his loyalists, particularly those whose rise to eminence was facilitated by the late former governor of Bayelsa.
