The former President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has urged politicians not to over stretch the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, as this could adversely affect execution of projects and retard development in the Niger Delta region.
Jonathan noted that as an interventionist agency for the oil producing states, the NDDC holds the mandate of bringing development closer to the people and that the agency came as a child of necessity with a strategic role to improve the environment, provide infrastructure and improve the livelihood of the people of the region.
He recalled that the first leadership of the NDDC led by Onyeama Ugochukwu as MD and Chief Timi Alaibe as the executive director finance and administration, EDFA, showed some clear leadership and that the people of Niger Delta began to see some clear direction.
Speaking at a 3-day Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit 2024 organized by NDDC in Port Harcourt on Friday, former President Jonathan who was the chairman of the occasion said that after that leadership, the activities of the Commission began to slow down and its impact was not well noticed.
“But with the present leadership, people from the Niger Delta have seen some light. Having listened to the conversation of this summit from Wednesday interrogating issues, I was impressed that things have taken a different look in the Niger Delta. It shows clearly that the current leadership intends to move NDDC to a proper direction.
“I will request for us who are the political class not to over stretch the NDDC so that they can perform. I am happy that Godswill Akpabio is here. He is the most senior politician. He has to work with others so that NDDC is not under too much of stress. I know what I am talking about”.
Jonathan expressed delight over the present management of NDDC, adding that one of the greatest problems of the NDDC is the issue of abandoned projects. “Infrastructure projects that were done by NDDC and were abandoned have become a curse. NDDC must have a way of managing its infrastructure when completed.
“They can on their own continue to maintain their roads. Alternatively, they can liaise with the governors for the states to take over the maintenance of the roads. We should begin to see how to build the Niger Delta without hydrocarbon”, he said.
On his part, the Senate President, Dr. Godswill Akpabio blamed some Niger Delta stakeholders from the Ogoni extraction of Rivers state for frustrating the completion of work on the East West road through a petition to the then President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Akpabio said that the Ogonis led a delegation to the President when he was the Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs and told him that the East/West road project should be removed from the Ministry to the Ministry of Works.
According to the Senate President, about N75billion was procured from the Sukuk funds for work on the project but since it was transferred to the Ministry of Works which had no funds to work on the project, the money could not be utilized for the purpose it was secured.
“The East/West road would have been completed under my tenure as Minister of Niger Delta. Some stakeholders particularly from the Ogoni extraction led a delegation to meet with the then President Buhari and said that they did not want the ministry of Niger Delta to complete the road. They wanted the road to be transferred to the ministry of Works.
“We have just secured about N75billion to complete the road from Eleme junction. President Buhari said if that is what you want, so be it. The ministry of Works had no budget that year for the East/west road. Even the N75billion from Sukuk could not be used. We must avoid the pull him down syndrome in the Niger Delta”.
Akpabio expressed satisfaction with the work the leadership of the current NDDC is doing to move the region forward. “We in the national Assembly
