The Senator representing Bayelsa West in the Senate, Seriake Dickson has warned that Nigeria is gradually becoming a society dominated by political mercenaries rather than leaders driven by principle, values and conscience.
Speaking during a press briefing at his country home in Toru Orua, Sagbama Local Government Area, Dickson while reflecting on leadership, values and the life of the late Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo (popularly called E-Lawrenzi), Dickson said true humility should not be mistaken for silence or passivity.
According to him, some people appear quiet but are deeply deceptive, manipulative and corrupt, while others who speak openly and firmly against wrongdoing are often misunderstood and wrongly labelled.
“When we talk about values and commitment to service, humility is not deceptive quietness,.
“There are people who are quiet, but what you don’t see in them is that they are deceptive.
”But there are people like us who are candid. When we see something wrong, we immediately say stop it because it is not the right way, ” he said.
He stressed that compassion and leadership require the ability to feel for others and to put oneself in another person’s position, noting that principled leadership is rooted in conscience, empathy and moral courage.
Using the late deputy governor as a case study, Dickson recounted what he described as one of Ewhrudjakpo’s defining political decisions.
According to him, Ewhrudjakpo refused to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) despite pressure, out of loyalty to the party and to Chief Ofuruma Pepe, whom he credited for bringing him into politics.
“He said clearly, ‘If Ofuruma Pepe, who brought me to this level, is not leaving PDP, please my boss, bear with me.
”I have heard your reasons, we are not fighting. I can’t fight you, I am a deputy governor, but my conscience will not accept that I abandon the party that gave me this platform,’” Dickson recalled.
He further explained that Ewhrudjakpo remembered how the party stood by them during political adversity, including legal battles after alleged electoral manipulation.
“We went to court after they rigged us out, and Ofuruma Pepe fought through the same court and God helped us. He said he could not go to another party. That was the man,” Dickson said.
According to the former governor, such conduct reflects deep moral upbringing and strong values.
He argued that the real distinction between human beings and animals lies not in physical attributes, but in conscience, free will, imagination and the spark of divine values.
“The spark of God in us is the value system we carry.
“E-Lawrenzi was raised on the right values and developed himself to the point where principle mattered more to him than temporary convenience, ” he said.
Dickson warned that societies only make progress when leaders operate at that level of moral consciousness.
He lamented that when leaders base decisions solely on personal gain—such as wealth, luxury, appointments or survival, society degenerates into one ruled by opportunists.
“If every leader thinks, ‘If I don’t take this decision, there will be no food on my table or no big cars,’ then you end up with a society of mercenaries,.
“That is increasingly what Nigeria is becoming, ” he said.
He contrasted this with principled leadership, which he said is guided by fairness, justice and conscience rather than selfish interest.
Dickson also revealed that contrary to public perception, he personally advised Ewhrudjakpo to follow his governor politically, stressing that their electoral ticket was joint.
He said the governor consulted him several times, and he shared his views without interference.
However, Ewhrudjakpo reportedly rejected the advice on moral grounds.
“He looked straight into my eyes and said, ‘Sir, how can I go when you are not there? How can we go without you?’
”He said his conscience did not agree, and even that the spirits of his fathers would not allow it,” Dickson narrated.
The former governor that such integrity is rare but essential, warning that without a return to values-based leadership, Nigeria risks deepening its crisis of trust and governance.
