A former President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has said that the Niger Delta Development Commission deviated from its purpose after the tenures of its former Chairman of Board, Onyema Ugochukwu, and Managing Director, Timi Alaibe.
Jonathan said this during a three-day Stakeholders Summit organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission.
Jonathan, who was the Chairman of the Summit, said: “Politicians took over the NDDC and its progress slowed down.
“People no longer felt the impact of the commission.
“But since the inception of this leadership, people of the Niger Delta have seen some light.
“I encourage the political class not to overstretch the NDDC management and board so that they can perform the mandate given to them.”
The former president, on Friday at the summit in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, urged the commission to focus on completing the scores of abandoned projects scattered across the nine NDDC states.
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State appealed to the Federal Government to act quickly to end the sufferings of commuters at the Okogbe axis of the East West Road in Rivers State.
He said his trip to Port Harcourt from Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, for the stakeholders’ summit, which was expected to take one hour by road, ended up taking about four hours.
Diri said: “It is chaotic, pathetic and unbelievable that this is happening to an oil-producing area that lays the golden egg for our country.
“The National Assembly should make the issue of the uncompleted East West Road a matter of national priority on the floor of the national legislature.”
The Minister of Niger Delta, Abubakar Momoh, said the Niger Delta region must diversify to reduce the reliance on fossil fuel.
Commenting on the condition of the East West Road, Momoh said that NDDC had engaged a construction firm to carry out some remedial work to reduce the hardship faced by road users.
Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, the Chairman, Senate Committee on NDDC, assured that the committee would continue to work closely with the commission to meet the yearnings of the people.
“Things are now looking different because for the first time in several years, NDDC will be working with a budget approved by the National Assembly,” Ekpenyong revealed.
A former Governor of Cross River, Donald Duke, urged collaboration between NDDC and state governors to address several issues plaguing the region.
Duke said close collaboration between the commission and governors of the Niger Delta region would help to end the existing conflicts over project ownership and duplication.
The NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, assured participants at the summit that their recommendations would be adopted to change the fortunes of the region.
Notable dignitaries at the well-attended summit included Governors Hope Uzodimma of Imo State and Dr. Alex Otti of Abia State, represented by their deputies.
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Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State was also represented by his deputy, while the host Governor, Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, was represented by the state Head of Service, Dr. George Nwaeke.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, spoke on the need for sustainable peace and security in the Niger Delta region.
According to Musa, the Armed Forces of Nigeria has been working tirelessly to restore permanent peace and security in the area.
