Government
Four Years of Governor Nigel Dakin, Highlights of the Tenure
By Dana Malcolm with Deandrea Hamilton
Editorial Staff
#TurksandCaicos, March 31, 2023 – Former Governor Nigel Dakin bid the Turks and Caicos goodbye on Wednesday March 29th in a service at St Monica’s Anglican Church. The ceremony, lavished with the befitting pomp and pageantry of a British send off, saw parts of Leeward Highway closed for a few hours to accommodate a Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force march pass and salutes to the outgoing and incoming governor.
The Governor is the equivalent of the British Monarch within the territory; a very prestigious post and the transition is always adorned with ceremonial fanfare which attracts residents from all walks of life, including government dignitaries.
Nigel Dakin and his wife Mandy, waved a final good-bye to the Turks and Caicos Islands after a noteworthy four-year tenure, which leaves the country with significant, beneficial changes.
Dakin arrived in the country in July 2019 to stand partner with the then Sharlene Robinson led PDM Administration. Robinson was the first woman to serve at Premier and when Dakin arrived, the Turks and Caicos was still restoring public infrastructure damaged in Hurricane’s Irma and Maria and fighting an unrelenting crime wave.
Mere months after his arrival, there would come the once in a lifetime event, the tragic Coronavirus Pandemic.
Dakin, alongside the elected government and the residents of the islands would have to contend with unprecedented lockdowns and the most brazenly violent season in Turks and Caicos history.
The Governor was sworn in in the presence of his family and welcomed by Premier Robinson and her team on July 15, 2019; three months after being announced as the successor to Dr. John Freeman.
History records Nigel Dakin as the 15th Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
By February 2020, any honeymoon – real or imagined – was over. Globally, governments had to do what none had ever done before, there was no blueprint and no playbook to follow. It took quick thinking, guts and extreme consultations to galvanize against the deadly and debilitating Covid-19 virus which had now devastated the people of the planet; deaths and illness were in the millions, an unprecedented predicament precipitated by a previously unheard of virus.
Dakin is credited with his role in getting vaccines to The Turks and Caicos by early 2021 (much more quickly than most other Caribbean nations) via lobbying in the UK. The British had determined its overseas territories cumulatively numbering around a quarter of a million citizens would be shared in; Great Britain was the first country
In this harrowing season, Turks and Caicos saw both hospitals outfitted with oxygen generators and the establishment of the National Public Health Laboratory; permitting COVID testing to take place on home soil.
Also transformed with the help of Dakin’s influence, The Department of Corrections, formerly known as HMP; located in Grand Turk. Unruly inmates were re-situated to other countries in order to restore and maintain calm at HMP which suffered frightening unrest, forcing Police to commandeer the facility and over time discouraging many who had signed on to lead at the institution. Reports of assault on guards, prisoners and superintendents were frequent.
In a project supported by his wife, Amanda Dakin, the Governor partnered with the Government and TCI citizens for projects, like the prison farm and uniquely, the inmates’ work in textiles which debuted at London Fashion Week in 2022. The group helped to create original handbags and the like with a local designer.
Amanda Dakin, in a feat of what can only be described as absolute brute strength, became the first woman to circumnavigate the Turks and Caicos on sole manpower, as she headlined the footsteps4good charity event two years in a row; 2021 and 2022. The money raised, surged and was donated wholly to charity organizations across the country.
Recognizing the illegal migration crises and well-versed in matters of national security as a former marine himself, Dakin began to fast track many security plans that had been dormant prior to his arrival. That included the creation of the country’s first military arm in 2022, the Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment. Starting with a handful of soldiers and volunteers, today the Regiment is nearly 50 strong.
In addition to the Regiment and the historic training of islanders to staff and help lead the troupe, Dakin helped engineer a 2021 Border Security agreement with the US and The Bahamas as an aside to the Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) plan which galvanized the long talked about Ship Rider Agreement, and simultaneously a comprehensive plan based on intelligence sharing between the three countries.
The radar unit was incorporated into the Marine Police and Immigration Minister capabilities expanded significantly to lay the groundwork for a National Coast Guard.
In 2022, murders increased exponentially and Dakin, who as the Governor, heads National Security faced calls from former politicians and current ones to step down. He refused unequivocally and along with Premier Washington
There are some islanders who criticize the Governor’s perceived close working relationship with both the elected governments and his stance on legal migration which he openly believes should be a fair and open process.
Dakin has never been one to turn tail at the sound of his detractors and has proved to be very engaged with the local community speaking with those who disagree with his methods and those who support him alike.
Premier Washington Misick, Former Premier Sharlene Robinson, Deputy Governor Anya Williams all had only glowing thanks for the Governor.
What is less debatable, is the Turks and Caicos is now in a stronger position in terms of security, with the establishment of a National Security office, staffed with local professionals and the establishment of the TCI Regiment, all coming during the tenure of Nigel Dakin.
Dakin steered talk to action, for true tangibles of which these islands can be proud.