Notable Natives
Notable sons of Bayelsa State include veteran novelist and poet Gabriel Okara; pioneering Nigerian journalist and pre-independent freedom fighter Ernest Ikoli; Nigerian Civil War hero Major Isaac Adaka Boro (Nigerian Army) and Canadian Olympic gold medalist and world wrestling champion Daniel Igali; and National Team footballer and Olympic / under-20s coach Samson Siasia.
Others include revolutionaries and April 22, 1990 martyrs Captains Perebo Dakolo and Harley Empere (Nigerian Army); former Governor of Rivers State HRM Alfred Diete-Spiff (now king of the city of Twon-Brass, Nigeria); and the current President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan. Also, Jeremiah Epidi from New Jersey.
Due to massive overseas scholarship programs implemented by the old Rivers State in the 1970s and recent Bayelsa State governments, large numbers of Bayelsan professionals reside in Europe and North America. This is part of the general brain-drain trend affecting many African communities.
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