Despite
dwindling oil revenues that have drastically impacted Bayelsa State as
well as N4 billion pension liabilities, Governor Seriake Dickson of
Bayelsa has just lavished public funds on a beauty pageant that was
supposed to be the private affair of the Murray-Bruce family in Yenegoa.
This
is despite the governor saying recently said that the sponsorship of
entertainment awards by the state government was not in the interest of
the state’s oil-dependent and consumption economy. It was also gathered
that the state currently has a pension liability of about N4 billion,
which compelled pensioners to stage a public protest a fortnight ago.
The
justification for the policy summersault to permit expending state
resources to fund a beauty pageant in a state where basic social
amenities are non-existent is unclear, especially coming from Dickson,
who claims to run a prudent and transparent administration.
It
would be recalled that earlier this year, the Bayelsa Government had to
embark on a fundraising dinner to raise part of the sponsorship funds
for the African Movie Academy Awards hosted by the state.
Observers
of developments in Bayelsa said that beauty pageant sponsorship may be a
form of patronage for Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce, the Chairman of the
organizing Silverbird Group who contested the gubernatorial election
with Dickson two years ago.
“The
show was packaged to assuage the carnal lust of the political class and
this is very sad development from a government that pledged to deviate
from the culture of waste of public resources by previous governments,”
an analyst said. “How can a state where there is endemic poverty and no
public water supply and be wasting billions of Naira in sponsoring a
beauty pageant where the elites will simply spend one night watching
nudity and nakedness of young girls.
Asked
Ephraim Johnson, a resident of Yenagoa, the state capital, “Is this the
way he will develop the state? It is rather shocking that while the
masses are struggling with refuse heaps and crying for basic
infrastructure, the politicians are spending the commonwealth of the
state on trivial things as beauty pageants.”
The
beauty contest itself was marred by irregularities as the organizers,
perhaps rewarding the government sponsorship, manipulated the results in
favour of the Bayelsa contestant. Her performance in the interview
segment before the live audience was abysmal and clearly inferior to
that of the runner-up.
The development drew jeers from the crowd while fans of Miss Omo, who was declared runner up, left the hall in droves.
See photos below:
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