Omoniyi Caleb Olubolade is a Navy Captain, former Military Administrator of Bayelsa State and Minister of Special Duties of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Born on November 30, 1954 at Ipoti-Ekiti in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State, he was commissioned into the Nigerian Navy in 1974. In the course of his illustrious naval career, he attended several schools including the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Kadena, Britannia Royal Naval College, UK in 1975 and the Naval College of Engineering, India in 1979. He also holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering.
Navy Captain Olubolade held many professional and administrative positions in the Nigerian Navy, and earned many service awards of excellence. He was appointed Military Administrator of the newly-created Bayelsa State on June 9, 1997 succeeding Habu Daura, the Commissioner of Police in the state, then.
Following pioneer administrator, Philip Ayeni's brief stay as Military Administrator and Habu Daura's mandate not to engage in anything other than to pay civil servants salaries, maintain security and keep the state going, the lot fell on Olubolade to develop the new state.
Olubolade had two major challenges. There was no single developmental project on ground in the new state, owing largely to the uneven spread of development in the old Rivers State. Yenagoa, the capital of the new state, was just a glorified village. The only government presence then were the Mbiama/Yenagoa Road (now Melford Okilo Road) and the Risonpalm, which has metamorphosed to Bayelsa Palm.
The second challenge was the poor financial base of the state. With no tax-paying companies in the state, the internally generated revenue base was very low while allocation from the Federation Account was around N100 million monthly. Undeterred, the new Sheriff in town, Olubolade rolled up his sleeves and flung himself at the task before him.
Olubolade's focus was on provision of office and residential accommodation because of the lack of these facilities in the state. Because of the acute residential accommodation problem and the difficulty getting same, some civil servants were shuttling Port Harcourt and Yenagoa on a daily basis while others resorted to sleeping in the office.
Olubolade built the Sports Complex (now Samson Siasia Stadium); the first secretariat complex; Ekeki Motor Park, which was originally where the Samson Siasia Stadium is; the Traditional Rulers Council complex and the Cultural Centre (now Dr Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre).
He is also credited to have built the Ministry of Women Affairs Hall, which at that time, along with the Creek Motel Hall, were the only venues hosting government programmes. He established and built the Family Support Nursery/Primary School, Ovom. The Administration building and printing press block of the Newspaper Corporation are also his handiwork. He equally put up some buildings in Government House to enhance the business of government.
Other projects Olubolade undertook include the first Radio Bayelsa building and procurement of broadcast equipment; the pioneer commissioners’ quarters, opposite Ministry of Transport; Civil Servants Quarters, Ovom; School of Nursing, Tombia; Shopping complex, which was later redesigned and made ICT centre; a handful of internal roads, especially in official areas, and the regular and free supply of electricity from the Kolo Creek Gas Turbine. He also ensured the state got its share of assets from Rivers State, following the creation of the new Bayelsa State. He was able to execute these projects using direct labour and extreme prudence of the very scarce resources.
A good number of the projects we have in Bayelsa State today were initiated by Olubolade and successive governors improved upon them. Such projects include the Samson Siasia Stadium, Traditional Rulers Council secretariat, Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre and the Women Affairs Hall, which is currently being renovated. With the aforementioned projects started by him, Olubolade can be said to be a pacesetter in terms of developmental projects in Bayelsa State.
At the end of his tenure as Military Administrator on July 9, 1998, he was redeployed to the Naval Headquarters and made Director of Projects, and later retired in 1999. He was appointed chairman of the Ekiti State Project Monitoring Committee by then Governor Segun Oni.
Olubolade went into politics and was a front runner in the Ekiti State governorship race in the 2007 election, under the Peoples Democratic Party. Unfortunately, his quest to contribute to the development of Ekiti State as governor did not materialise.
Because of his good works when he was governor of Bayelsa State, President Goodluck Jonathan at different times between 2010 and 2015, appointed him as Minister of Special Duties; Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory, and Minister of Police Affairs.
Today, Olubolade will be 70 years and he has chosen to celebrate his platinum birthday in Bayelsa to rekindle his affinity with the state. We join the host of family members and friends to wish a pacesetter a happy birthday.
