Henry Seriake Dickson CON (born 28 January 1966) is a Nigerian lawyer and politician. He has been the Senator representing Bayelsa West senatorial District since 2020 in the 9th National Assembly and also from 2023 in the 10th Assembly. He was the governor of Bayelsa State from 14 February 2012 to 14 February 2020. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2007 until 2012.
Early life and education Henry Seriake Dickson was born on 28 January 1966 in Toru-Orua Town of Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. He is a descendant of the King Kapadia Royal House of Tarakiri Kingdom.
Dickson attended Kolobiriowei Primary School, Toru-Orua, from 1972 to 1978, where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate and proceeded to Government Secondary School, Toru-Ebeni, in 1978 to 1983 where he got his West African School Certificate (WASSCE/GCE).
Dickson enrolled in the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, to study law in 1988. He earned his LL.B in 1992. In 1993, he went on to earn his Bachelors in Law from the Nigerian Law School and was also called to the Nigerian Bar shortly thereafter.
Legal career Henry Seriake Dickson joined the Nigeria Police Force in 1986. Upon his graduation from law school in 1993, he was appointed a cadet assistant superintendent of police, from where he proceeded to Nigeria Police Academy in Kano for Officers' Training. During his training, he resigned from the police force after nearly a decade in the field, in favour of practicing law.
As a lawyer, he worked with Serena David Dokubo & Co. as an associate solicitor from 1994 to 1995 and moved to Aluko & Oyebode, a prominent law firm in Lagos, also as an associate solicitor, between 1995 and 1996. He founded Seriake Dickson & Co. in Port Harcourt and later Yenagoa, serving as its managing solicitor from 1996 to 2006. He was elected pioneer publicity secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Yenagoa, serving in this role from 1996 to 1998.
Political career
Alliance for Democracy Dickson began his political career as a member of Alliance for Democracy (AD) (Nigeria) and was elected as the Bayelsa State chapter chairman of the party from 1998 to 2000. The political party produced a senator representing Bayelsa West, a member of the House of Representatives representing Sagbama - Ekeremor Federal Constituency and three members of the State House of Assembly from Brass Local Government. After his tenure as chairman elapsed, he was elected national legal adviser of the Alliance for Democracy and served in that position between 2000 and 2002.
Attorney General of Bayelsa State (2006–2007) In January 2006, Dickson was appointed the attorney-general and commissioner for justice of Bayelsa State (2006 to 2007) by the then Governor, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR.
As attorney general, he was a member of the Body of Benchers, a member of the Council of Legal Education and vice chairman of the State Advisory Judicial Service Commission.
House of Representatives Dickson was elected to the National Assembly's House of Representatives in 2007 and was appointed chairman, the House Committee on Justice and member of several committees including Defence, National Security, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs
In April 2011, he was elected for a second term, a then-unaccomplished feat in his constituency. In his second term, he was appointed Chairman House Committee on Special Duties.
At the National Assembly, he sponsored/co-sponsored several bills, which include:
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2009. The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (Establishment) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2009. The Political Parties(Internal Democracy)Bill, 2008. The Constitution Alteration Bill, 2010. The Legislative Houses, Powers and Privileges Act (Amendment) Bill, 2009. The Evidence Bill, 2009. The Kidnapping and Hostage Taking (Prohibition) Bill, 2009. The Freedom of Information Bill, 2007. The Court Ordered Elections (Streamlining of Tenure of Office) Bill, 2008. The Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2009. Transmission of power by a President or Governor amendment Bill (section 145), 2010
Senate On 5 December 2020, Dickson won the Bayelsa West Senatorial Bye-Election with over 80% of the total votes and was sworn in as Senator into the 9th Senate replacing Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo on 15 December 2020.
He won his re-election bid to the senate on 25 February 2023 and was named the chairman, of the Senate committee on ecology/ climate change of the 10th senate on 8 August 2023.
On 28 May 2023, Dickson was conferred with Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) by Former President Buhari. Dickson was also awarded Excellence in Environmental Leadership Award 2023 by the Global Initiative for Climate and Environmental Sustenance in August 2023
Gubernatorial career In the 2012 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election, the Independent National Electoral Commission reported that Henry Seriake Dickson won over 90% of the votes. They went on to say that this helped in "further strengthening the PDP's stronghold on power there since Jonathan became president."
Shortly after taking over gubernatorial duties, Dickson said that he was "painfully transiting to the executive arm of government." He indicated that he may return to the National Assembly someday.
Dickson was re-elected Governor of Bayelsa State in the 2015 Bayelsa State gubernatorial election. On 14 February 2020, Dickson officially handed over to Douye Diri as the Governor of Bayelsa State.
Key legislation While in office, Governor Dickson sent over 50 bills to the Bayelsa State House of Assembly (BSHA) including the State Transparency Law, Thanksgiving Law and the Judicial Autonomy Law for which he has received commendations from the Attorney General of the Federation and the Honorable Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Governor Dickson enacted the Right to Education Law, which obliges parents, guardians of children and the state government to ensure that children are schooled up to the age of 18.
Education Through the Right to Education Law, Henry Seriake Dickson instituted free and compulsory educations in Bayelsa State for students in primary and secondary schools. Dickson's administration also introduced compulsory boarding education and constructed 13 boarding schools, the first of their kind in the state. This included the launch of the Ijaw National Academy in 2017 (renamed as the Captain Samuel Timinipre Owonaro Academy in 2020), which began with 1,000 students and as of May 2026 had grown to over 1,500 students on full scholarship. Per its namesake, the school aims to foster young leadership from the Ijaw ethnic group, accepting community members in Bayelsa and the five other states where the Ijaw predominate: Rivers, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Ondo and Delta. As part of Dickson's boarding school system program, his administration built more than 25 constituency secondary schools.
Dickson's education reforms were attributed to Bayelsa's greatly improved ranking in the education development index of Nigeria's 36 states. Whereas the state had ranked 28th upon Dickson's election in 2012, by 2014 it ranked among the top five states in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) index, a position it maintained consistently for four years. Similarly, in 2017 Bayelsa placed third in the National Examination Council (NECO), which highlighted the students' excellence in the subjects English, Mathematics and Science.
The Dickson led Restoration government also established the University of Africa, Toru-Orua and the Bayelsa Medical University, Bayelsa State Polytechnic, Aleibiri and other non degree awarding tertiary institutions such as Bayelsa School of Agriculture, Bayelsa State Sports Academy Asoama, the first in Nigeria, The Bayelsa International Institute of Catering and Hospitality, Yenagoa, Bayelsa Driving School to take care of the teeming population of students in need of world class tertiary education. These institutions are affiliated to several world class universities.
The Government of Governor Dickson also made huge investments to upgrade the facilities and programs in the Niger Delta University, the Bayelsa State College of Education as well as the Bayelsa State School of Nursing and Midwifery and Bayela State School of Health Technology of which they all have full accreditation from their respected regulatory bodies.
Governor Dickson by law established the Bayelsa Education Development Trust Fund, the first in the country, continuing a passion for education that has currently made Bayelsa the educational hub and epicenter of human capital development in Nigeria especially with the establishment of several institutions of learning.
Just like the Education Trust Fund, Governor Dickson introduced the Bayelsa State Student Loan board, backed by law to give loans to deserving Bayelsa students who require financial assistance to pursue their education with their certificates as collateral. Dickson says that this was done to ensure that every Bayelsa student has the opportunity to pursue their education without restrictions.
The establishment of the Bayelsa State Teachers Training and Certification Board backed by Law, another innovation to ensure the continuous training and retraining of all teachers in Bayelsa. The law provides for certification of teachers to be eligible to be employed for teaching in Bayelsa and that program has since commenced. These key policies as well as the legal framework have received commendation by the National Council on Education and has been recommended as the benchmark for revitalizing the educational sector by all states in Nigeria.
Governor Dickson built over 500 residential quarters for headmasters and teachers of primary schools in several rural communities to solve accommodation problems, Governor Dickson also built and renovated several primary schools. Audtors have revealed that Governor Dickson's restoration project spent over N80 billion in educational infrastructure in his 8 years as Governor of Bayelsa State.
Healthcare Governor Dickson made unprecedented provisions of healthcare facilities in the state in line with his restoration agenda. He built the Bayelsa Diagnostics Centre, The Bayelsa State Forensics Centre and the Bayelsa Drug Mart to tackle incidents of fake drugs in the state both commissioned by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He also built the fully equipped 100 bed Bayelsa Specialist Hospital which is renowned for its world class facilities and built 80 bed hospitals in Kaiama, Sagbama, Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw local governments. Governor Dickson also completely refurbished and equipped the general hospital in Brass. Governor Dickson's plan as part of his restoration agenda was to build a health centre and health workers' quarters in all 105 political wards in the state. He, however, completed this in 83 wards under the implementation of the Bayelsa State Primary Healthcare Board inaugurated by his administration. Governor Dickson also announced a special allowance for pregnant women who registered and attended antenatal in the state upon verification. Governor Dickson received wide recognition and praise for his work in the Maternal and Child Healthcare by several healthcare professional groups in Nigeria. By the end of his administration, there was a significant drop in maternal and infant mortality in Bayelsa State, from being one of the highest in the country to being the least in the South South.