Atiku/Okowa Presidency will Make NDDC Work for the People

Tomi Akporoghene

At the end of the APC and Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years presidency, the scorecard of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), would be summed up in the strange sentence: “Off your Mic”. 

The new introduction to our national parlance simply describes the impunity, collusion and betrayal of the people of Niger Delta by their APC representatives in both federal executive and legislative authorities. Among them are the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and their cronies who, rather than defend, opted to dance along in the shortchanging and treachery against their own people.

After all dramatics of forensic audit, the politics of appointing sole administrators, the rigmarole in refusing to appoint a substantive board as required by law and the hearing at the National Assembly, the NDDC ended up submerged in mere politics without delivery.

Writing in the Vanguard Newspaper of November 4, Boniface Dumpe, a native of Ogoniland and a Research Fellow at the Rivers State University, Institute of Agricultural Research and Development, Port Harcourt, captured the situation in these words: “The Buhari administration embarked on a series of aberrations and ordered a forensic audit of the Commission and appointed an interim management committee, to oversee its implementation…At best, the outcome of the forensic audit, as a therapy for the NDDC, is still hazy. What is sure, however, is that the NDDC’s forensic audit has come and gone, and not much has changed in the day-to-day running of the Commission. In fact, it would appear that the NDDC has slipped into a coma since the conclusion of the forensic audit.

“A key challenge of the NDDC is the alienation of the communities it was set up to serve. Communities are alienated in terms of legitimate participation in the strategic planning process to address their needs. Accessibility of the Commission is limited, while the two-way communication and feedback on programme interventions is not accorded the priority it deserves.”

Dumpe pointed out that another dilemma in the operation of the NDDC is the fact that the commission, rather than being professionally managed, is “perpetually under pressure to appease and satisfy political overlords at the highest level, both in the Executive and Legislative branches of Government. These factors contribute to foisting a culture of opacity, lack of effective monitoring, corruption and patronage.”

Consequently, he observed, it became “virtually impossible for NDDC’s management to concentrate on conceptualising or faithfully implementing any needs-based or strategic plan for Niger Delta’s sustainable development.” 

The above theses simply describe the scrambling about the NDDC. Akpabio had his day with Effiong Akwa as Sole Administrator. The new Managing Director, Engr Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, is generally known to be Omo-Agege’s man. Now, after failing to foist Lauretta Onochie, his Personal Assistant on New Media, as INEC Federal Electoral Commissioner, Buhari has found a place for her as Chairman of the Board of NDDC. The shenanigans go on. Sadly, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi whom they invited to the treacherous squandermania ended up the effigy.

However, all hope is not lost. With the expectation of Atiku Abubakar and Sen Ifeanyi Okowa’s victory in the 2023 Presidential election, sanity will return for the effective running of the NDDC, towards fulfilling its mandate to the Niger Delta communities.

This is not only because Okowa has seen and knows all about managing development in the oil producing areas, but more because he has delivered it with a clear, result oriented template with the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, which has exemplified the right attitude for efficiency and effectiveness, as an interventionist agency.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of DESOPADEC, Bashorun Askia Ogieh, has not only ensured that the management of the agency is development-focused, but he also ensures the full convergence of the agency and its communities on needs assessments and articulation of projects and programmes as well as that it’s operations are discharged in professional and corporate best practices.

From community to community across its mandate areas, DESOPADEC has successfully complemented the State Government in the provision of capital and social infrastructure, like  roads, bridges, jetties, schools, health delivery facilities, housing, electrification projects, water schemes, markets, agriculture, commerce and many more, while also responding to the challenges of environmental safeguard and regeneration.

The agency has invested itself with commitment to human capital development as symbolised by its establishment of the DESOPADEC Skills Academy, DSA, by which it continues to equip indigenes of its mandate areas in various entrepreneurial skills. 

This special vocational vehicle, now in its third session, trains youth in such technical fields as Welding and Fabrication, ICT/ Hardware and Software Engineering, Electrical Installation and Repairs and building technology, especially in the areas of Tiling, POP and Interlocking.

It also focuses on the fashion, beauty and hospitality industries by offering training in Shoe Making, Skin Care Products manufacturing, Fashion and Design, Hair Dressing and Make-Over and Catering and Confectioneries.

To ensure universal standard in the acquired skills as well as capacity for practice and employability, the trainees are made to undergo all theory, practical and business development sessions and subjected to periodic assessments and trade tests conducted by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

The agency has also committed itself to talent development for youth who are interested in the entertainment and creative industry.

It demonstrated responsibilty with its swift response in anticipation of the recent flood by moving ahead to de-silt and open up various canals, drainages and water channels to mitigate the effect of flooding, especially in urban and suburban areas, in the knowledge that the displacement of the huge population of such centres could be catastrophic.

When the flood intensified, DESOPADEC also moved to open up holding camps across its mandate areas to complement those established by the State Government and, besides ensuring adequate provision of facilities and essentials, it further empowered the IDPs with finance to enable them resettle in their homes and businesses with less difficulty when the flood abated.

Its spread in ensuring the wellbeing of both the people and the environment of its mandate areas has been total, proactive and excellently professional. It is such that counterpart agencies across the Niger Delta and oil producing states often come to borrow leaves from DESOPADEC, not only in the conceptualisation, implementation and management of various programmes and projects, but also in its style of governance.

This is the experience Okowa would be bringing to the national scene when he is sworn in as Vice President and we can be sure that the NDDC would be back alive to truly serve the people.