BAYELSA 2019: Looking forward to a John Jonah Creative Economy

By Inno Paul

Following the recent screening exercise of aspirants aspiring to fly the Peoples Democratic Party’s flag at the November 2, 2019 Bayelsa Governorship Election, the race for the next landlord of the ‘Creek Haven” Bayelsa State Government House, Yenagoa, is on the upward swing and fast gathering momentum.

In the build-up, the million-dollar question however is “Who will govern the oil-rich state when Governor Seriake Dickson bows out in Feb 2020?

Over the years, the incumbent has enjoyed some level of goodwill and popularity based on his perceived excellent performance, and this has necessitated most of the guber aspirants seeking his endorsement as it is believed that possibly only the aspirant that is anointed by him would stand a chance of succeeding him.

So far there are about 21 aspirants from the PDP alone, aside those from across the other parties showing interest in the race to succeed Gov. Dickson.

Of the lot, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (Rtd.), the incumbent Deputy Governor is in a class of his own. Born 6 March 1954 in Nembe, Nembe LGA; he attended St Luke’s Primary School Nembe, Nembe National Grammar School, Nigerian Defence Academy Course; Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in England and after being commissioned in July 1977, went to the Naval Engineering College, India to study Naval Engineering and later specialized in Marine Engineering at the same establishment.

He has a military career that spanned 36 years, and is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Star (DSS); member - Nigerian Society of Engineers, an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).

Insiders posit that he has massive grassroots support, perhaps because he is virtually on top of all the economic and investment portfolios of the Restoration Administration. Added to this is the belief by many that he still has a massive war chest and wide connections.

His entrance into the race is based on the blueprint of SERVICE & CONTINUITY, whose key focus areas include Security, Power, Education, Health, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Youth Development, Women’s Development, and building a Creative Economy.

At a recent outing, he opened a tiny window into what the Jonah Administration intends to achieve, when eventually given the mandate to lead Bayelsa come February 2020.

Hear him: “It will always be the responsibility of any government to provide certain deliverables to its constituents including, but not limited to, infrastructure, education, and health. I do not intend to deviate from this traditional role of government but, in light of certain realities and peculiar factors now at play in the nation, there will be need to single out certain sectors for particular attention. These realities and factors include the following: the continuous dwindling of federal allocation funds; the over reliance of Nigeria on revenues generated from the petroleum sector, even as the rest of the world moves away oil as a source of energy; The unprecedented levels of insecurity in Nigeria today; the declaration that Nigeria is now the poverty capital of the world; the unabated marginalization of the people of the Niger Delta; the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement; and Global trade wars.

Furthermore he added “In my view, all of the above indicate that perilous and uncertain times lie ahead for Nigeria and for Bayelsa. I am therefore convinced of the following: that, as a matter of urgency, Bayelsa State must take every necessary step to mitigate the spate of wide-spread insecurity now prevalent; that, as a matter of urgency, Bayelsa State must take every necessary step to ensure the provision of steady power for industrial purposes, for the MSME sector, and for others, all on a willing payer basis and that, as a matter of urgency, Bayelsa State must take every necessary step to reduce the level of poverty and unemployment experienced by her people, through building a creative economy. 

He is very convinced that if special attention is given to the above three areas, this action will facilitate the flow of all other traditional deliverables of government such as: Infrastructure, Education, and Health, Driving economic growth and driving job and wealth creation.

In achieving these intentions, the Jonah Administration, according to its campaign organization will employ three main strategies of mitigating the spate of the now prevalent and wide-spread insecurity; ensuring the provision of steady power for industrial purposes, for the MSME sector, and for others, on a willing payer-basis, and reducing the level of poverty and unemployment experienced in Bayelsa by Building a Creative Economy.

A Creative Economy is central to the strategy of every country and as one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy. UNCTAD figures indicate that the world trade of creative goods and services exceeds US$ 600 billion and is on the rise. Increasingly, the global economy is recognizing the power of culture as an enabler and a driver of income generation, job creation and export earnings and for achieving inclusive and sustainable development.

John Jonah believes that Bayelsa State is well-positioned to key into this and build a creative economy because of its rich culture and heritage. He believes the state already has the tools to accomplish this well within its reach, in its artisans, artists, musicians, fashion designers etc. For example, the state previously invested in its young fashion designers by arranging for the best of them to be trained in business management, and fashion design to the highest standards in Thailand. And the quality of Bayelsa State’s arts and culture is evidenced in the enviable record of success of the State’s Council for Arts and Culture, in both Nigerian and international competitions.

John Jonah intends to harness the creativity of Bayelsans and create job and business opportunities, especially for small and medium sized enterprises. Jonah is perfectly placed to achieve this because he is not only a believer of local innovation, but a practitioner of it. After all, while serving as Chief of Naval Engineering at the Dockyard, Rear Admiral Jonah (rtd) challenged his colleagues on the need to construct a Naval Warship locally which ultimately led to the final design of the first indigenous warship, the NNS ANDONI. That ship is still performing extremely well at sea today.

Building a creative economy should be an important part of Bayelsa State’s strategy as it creates jobs that cannot be easily, or entirely replaced by machines and technologies, because they depend on human creativity and artistic expression.



There is no doubt that there are so many environmental problems in Bayelsa State which creativity and creative industries can help to solve. It is often said that oil was the fuel that drove the world economy in the 20th century; but creativity is now the oil of the 21st century and Bayelsa should key into this.

The strategy is to grow sustainability, innovation and specialization, and to encourage the resilience needed for a successful 21st Century Bayelsa, based on the action plan of setting up specialist creative industry teams with a mandate to lead on the delivery of this strategy. Such plans could also be initiated in the tourism industry by encouraging skills that will drive creativity to boost the sector, applied in the digital, film and arts industry and also ecotourism which will showcase the unique and wonderful culture of Bayelsans.

When one considers the fact that “Creativity and culture are vital parts of the DNA of any nation, the Jonah administration (given the opportunity)  will revive Bayelsa State through encouraging Bayelsans to embrace their entrepreneurial ambitions and share cultural and creative goods with the world through government’s support.

One vital point of note is that achieving a Creative Economy is not a task for the lily-livered. It entails the leadership of someone like Jonah who is fully abreast of the economic and investment portfolios of the Restoration Administration, and how they can be improved. Jonah has already unveiled plans to establish at least one cottage industry in every local government area of the state (based on local endowment /comparative advantage of the area, i.e. based on the policy of “One Local Government One Product” (ONLOP).

Jonah with his 2-term unblemished service as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State is equipped with a unique vantage point of governance at the state level, and is versed in areas that require improvement, and how best to achieve critical and necessary continuity. Thus he has also unveiled plans such as establishing vocational training centres in every LGA; sensitizing indigenes on the benefits of non-disturbance of industry; enacting anti-nuisance law to protect businesses and industry; enacting local content laws for Bayelsa State (including the encouragement of dividends accruing to communities from every new industry or investment set up in local areas, knowledge transfer, and technology transfer etc).

With a track record of impeccable dedication, service, and strong leadership from a 36-year service period in the Nigerian Navy, during which time he managed billions of naira of public funds, with an unblemished record and with no scandal; he is well-leveraged to discuss the nitty-gritty of a creative economy.

As a man that has been around the power circle in the state, in the last eight years, John Jonah has a better understanding of where the outgoing government stopped and areas of consolidation - a task that will be difficult for an entirely new person.

And equipped with his role as Deputy Governor, again with an unblemished cum stellar record, this competent and respected community chieftain is no stranger to the fact that the resultant effects of a well-articulated and creative Bayelsan economy will develop the tourism sector, create jobs, enable homogenous youth development, and improve Gross State Product (GSP), lay a path to wealth creation, and usher in a more prosperous Bayelsa State.

Inno Paul, a Public Affairs Analyst, writes from Lagos.