NDDC Board ready to revisit original mandate of commission to ensure development
The Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has stated its commitment to restore the original mandate of the commission with the intention to make it a working tool for development and peace to the Niger Delta region.
In his remarks at the inaugural meeting of the board held at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt on Thursday, the Chairman of the Board, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN) regretted that the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan meant to accelerate the development of this hitherto turbulent and underdeveloped region has so far failed to achieve that objective.
Senator Ndoma-Egba, said that rather “the region has become even more turbulent and more underdeveloped than when the Master Plan was launched, clearly because the Master Plan was abandoned after all the fanfare that attended its launching in 2007.”
The chairman noted: “The Commission lost its focus as a development commission or agency and has rather acquired the reputation, rightly or wrongly, of a contract awarding factory or machine, delivering little impactful development to the Region.
“We are coming on board at a very challenging time. The public image of the Commission is not edifying. The militancy, restlessness and lack of development are most unnerving. We must rebrand the Commission and change the public perception of it as a slush fund and this we must do through our honest work and single minded focus and discipline,” he said.
He stressed the need to reform the processes of the Commission, adding that things must be done differently if different results must be achieved, adding that “We must see our appointments as a life time opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of the ordinary people of the region and write our names in gold for posterity and not an opportunity for our own slice of the proverbial national cake or short term benefits. We should keep our eyes on history.”
According to him, the need to make the difference was an imperative choice the NDDC board and management must make if history must judge them fairly, noting that how history would judge the Commission was a matter of choice.
Senator Ndoma-Egba noted that previous interventions in the Region had been unremarkable, starting from the Niger-Delta Development Board (1961-1972) Niger-Delta River Basin Authority (1972–1983) Oil Minerals producing Areas Development Commission (1972 – 2000) to the NDDC.
According to the Chairman, these intervention agencies failed for loss of focus, mismanagement, inadequate funding, corruption and the lack of the appropriate will to develop the region. He said that though the time for the current board was short, it was long enough to chart a new path.
In a related development, the Governing Board has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his determination to develop the Niger Delta region.
Speaking during the inaugural meeting of the Board at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt on Thursday, the Chairman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, cited the increase in the budgets of the Ministry of Niger ~Delta Affairs, the NDDC and the Amnesty Programme, the new urgency for the completion of the East – West Road, the East – West Rail line, the Ogoni Clean up, as well as the recent dialogue with leaders from the region, and expressed faith “in President’s Buhari’s goodwill and good faith towards the region.”
Senator Ndoma-Egba expressed hope that these would be fully established, if the enabling environment would be created in the region, and called on “all the militant groups to stop the breaches and vandalisation of oil facilities.”
“Their point has long been made,” he said. “Now they are inflicting injuries and suffering on themselves and our already hapless and helpless people. They should give us a chance to develop.”
The NDDC Chairman stated that development cannot occur without peace and security and called for collective action to ensure a more peaceful and secure region. He said: “We cannot complain about environmental pollution and degradation in the region and at the same time engage in activities like pipeline vandalisation and breaches that not only pollute the environment, but also shield those who should bear responsibility for the sorry state of our environment from liability.
“All of us from the region must take responsibility for peace and security in our own interest and in the interest of generations to come. All of us must be committed to the peace, security and prosperity of our region. It is our duty,” he said.
