Matthew Seiyefa, former
director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS), says there is
inequality in the spread of leadership positions at the federal level.
According to THISDAY, Seiyefa
said this at the launch of the Bayelsa Tertiary Education Loan scheme in
Yenagoa, capital of the state.
The Bayelsa indigene reportedly
said anybody from the part of the country he hails from was already
disadvantaged.
Seiyefa came into limelight on
August 7, 2018, when Acting President Yemi Osinbajo sacked Lawal Daura as
director-general of the DSS following the invasion of the national assembly.
But one month after, he was
compulsorily retired by President Muhammadu Buhari while Yusuf Bichi, current
head of the agency, replaced him.
Buhari was on medical vacation in
the UK when Osinbajo removed Daura.
Recalling his ordeal in the last
days before his retirement, Seiyefa said John Pepper Clark, a notable scholar,
and Seriake Dickson, governor of Bayelsa state, stood solidly behind him.
He attributed his survival in the
years that he spent at the DSS to the sound education he got while growing up,
noting that although his promotion was sometimes delayed unjustly, he could not
be ignored for too long by the powers that be.
“I want to thank two people who
encouraged me during that period (crisis in the leadership of DSS). Prof. JP
Clark, who was in Lagos and constantly, encouraged me not to give in but to
stay and His Excellency, our dear governor,” he reportedly said.
“In fact, on two different
occasions, he offered to employ me if I should leave, but I stayed the course.
“When August 7 last year
happened, I was told of the jubilation in Bayelsa State. That they heard that one
of their own is the head of a federal agency. People went to beer parlours,
they bought drinks and they were happy and that moment of shared stakeholding
in the Nigerian nation is very important.
“That moment of celebration that
we too belong here is very important. But people made it happen and His
Excellency is one of them. I appreciate what we have been through as a people.
“Education, as has been said, is
it. I particularly want to encourage the boarding schools, because in the years
to come, as far as I am concerned, that will be the game changer.
“When I look back at my own
story, the secondary school that I attended made all the difference. And for
the young people, at the corporate and federal level, the years ahead will be
very tough, competition will be very fierce and hard.
“At the moment, at the federal
level, critical agencies are thinly spread, our presence is very little. At the
corporate level, we are virtually nowhere, but those are opportunities for us
because we cannot all be here struggling for crumbs, we need to be out there
too.
“But how to be there and survive
depend on education, the quality of education you have. I went through a lot of
difficulties, but the education I had put me through.
“Because you are from here, you
are already disadvantaged. But if you are also poorly educated, then that is
double jeopardy and you will be doubly endangered.
“As it is, we are poorly
represented at the federal level. Since you are already disadvantaged coming
from here, if you don’t have quality education, then you don’t stand the test
of time.
“On occasions, during my career,
I was denied promotion, not because of anything else, but because people were
being positioned. That is the reality. But if you are good and have a point to
make, they will look at you in the end because you don’t have any traditional
ruler to run to, no religious leader to run to and that is the reality.
Identity politics is a fact of life in our nation.”
Seiyefa maintained that education
remained the key, insisting that anyone with a sound education can stand the
test of time and perennial scrutiny.
He is currently the pro
chancellor of the Niger Delta University (NDU) in Bayelsa.
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