2012 gov poll: Ijaw youths rising against the tide?

Tribune

19 July 2011

2012 gov poll: Ijaw youths rising against the tide?

As preparations for the 2012 gubernatorial election hot up in Bayelsa State, Oluwole Ige X-rays factors that may shape the course of the electoral exercise, concluding that the youth elements in the state may eventually decide the fate of the next occupant of the state Government House.

The serenity and seeming calmness pervading Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, is not suggestive of any impending political contest. But underneath the belly of the Ijaw youths, populating the 15-year-old state, are rumblings of thoughts centred on who steers the ship of leadership in the state next year.

Except the domineering presence of billboards advertising only two contestants for the coveted seat of the governor, a first-time visitor would think there is no political or electioneering activity in the offing.