Bayelsa State

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location
Bayelsa State State nickname: Glory of all lands

Statistics
Governor (List)	Goodluck Jonathan (PDP)
Date Created	1 October 1996
Capital	Yenagoa
Area	10,773 km² Ranked 27th
Population 1991 Census 2005 est.	Ranked 35th N/A 1,998,349
ISO 3166-2	NG-BY

Bayelsa State is a state in southern Nigeria in the core Niger Delta region, between Delta State and Rivers State. Its capital is Yenagoa. The language spoken here is Ijo; however, like the rest of Nigeria, English is the official language. The state was formed in 1996 from part of Rivers State and thus, it is one the newest states of the Nigerian federation.

1 Economy
2 Miscellaneous
3 Administrative Divisions
4 External links

[edit] Economy

Bayelsa has a riverine and estuarine setting. A lot of her communities are almost (and in some cases) completely surrounded by water, hence making these communities inaccessible by road.

It has one of the largest crude oil and natural gas deposits in Nigeria. As a result petroleum production is extensive in the state. However, the majority of Bayelsans live in poverty. They are mainly rural dwellers due to its peculiar terrain and lack of adequate transportation, health, education or other infrastructure as a result of decades of neglect by the central governments and petoleum prospecting companies. This has been a large problem in the state since its creation and successive state governments have not been able to address and repair the issue. The state, as a result, has an almost non-existent commerce. The current state government has however embark on various industrial projects (even venturing into the oil and gas sector and poverty-alleviation programs to reverse this situation).

The local population engage in fishing on a subsistence and commercial level. The Bayelsa State government is otherwise the main employer of labor in the state.

Other important cities besides Yenagoa include Akassa, Amassoma (the home of the Niger Delta University), Brass, Kaiama, Nembe,Odi, Ogbia, Oporoma and Sagbama.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Due to massive overseas scholarship programs implemented by the old Rivers State in the 1970s and recent Bayelsa State governments, large amount of Bayelsan professionals reside in Europe and North America. This is part of the general brain-drain trend affecting many African communities.

Notable sons of Bayelsa State include veteran novelist and poet, Gabriel Okara; pioneering Nigerian journalist and pre-independent freedom fighter, Ernest Ikoli; Nigerian patriot and Nigerian civil war liberator-hero of the Niger Delta, Major Isaac Adaka Boro (Nigerian Marines); Canadian Olympic gold medalist and world wrestling champion, Daniel Igali; revolutionaries and martyrs of the Apri 22, 1990 Nigerian coup de etat, Captains Perebo Dakolo and Harley Empere (Nigerian Army); and former OPEC President and former Nigerian Minister of Energy, Edmund Daukoru.

[edit] Administrative Divisions

Bayelsa is divided into eight LGAs:

Brass
Ekeremor
Kolokuma/Opokuma
Nembe
Ogbia
Sagbama
Southern Ijaw
Yenagoa

[edit] External links

v • d • e States of Nigeria
Abia \| Abuja Federal Capital Territory \| Adamawa \| Akwa Ibom \| Anambra \| Bauchi \| Bayelsa \| Benue \| Borno \| Cross River \| Delta \| Ebonyi \| Edo \| Ekiti \| Enugu \| Gombe \| Imo \| Jigawa \| Kaduna \| Kano \| Katsina \| Kebbi \| Kogi \| Kwara \| Lagos \| Nassarawa \| Niger \| Ogun \| Ondo \| Osun \| Oyo \| Plateau \| Rivers \| Sokoto \| Taraba \| Yobe \| Zamfara