Onochie: State of Niger Delta Region Shameful

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Chairman of the Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Lauretta Onochie has expressed disappointment that the Niger Delta region have not benefited much from the commission since its establishment 20 years ago, describing such as shameful.

Onochie who was among the board members recently Inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari, with a directive to achieve the mandate of the agency, regretted that so much money from the commission have been wasted by some individuals who were only interested in enriching themselves than impacting meaningfully on the region.

She made the assertion yesterday, while addressing management and staff of the commission at its (NDDC) headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Warning that it would not be business as usual, Onochie regretted that the money meant for NDDC and by extension development of Niger Delta was squandered in Abuja, Lagos, Dubai, etc, thereby impoverishing people of the region.
She said: “Today is a historic day. I am not just for the people of Niger Delta, but for the women of Nigeria. And being a historic day, we have a lot of things going on today.

“Let me remind us why we are here. This (NDDC) is an organisation, a commission that was commissioned specifically for the people of Niger Delta. It is an interventionist agency that is supposed to bring about prosperity; it is supposed to bring development in our region.
“This organisation was set up in 2000. And, if you go round the Niger Delta till date, there is little or nothing to show for it. NDDC has been a shame of the Niger Delta and a shame of our nation. For the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has been determined to turn things around.

“Over 20 years the money that was expended in this region, they found their ways to Abuja, to Lagos, to Dubai, London, USA, everywhere, except the Niger Delta. And when the government tries to correct things they use some of the money to mobilise those same people they have put under them to protest against what the government is doing in their own favour.”
According to her, “from what we gathered there are a lot of politics going on here. It is not just here, in the Ministries as well, we will not tolerate that we are coming as a team.

“We are all one, we have come to serve you, serve the people of Niger Delta. We will improve your lot, make you happy; make sure you are happy at home. Is not about me, not about the MD, not even about the President of Nigeria, it is about the people Niger Delta.
“As I said yesterday, at our inauguration, he (Buhari) never does things in his own interest. Everything he does, he does in the interest of Nigerians. And this board you see here represents that interest.”
The agency’s board chairman further disclosed that she and her team were set to reposition the NDDC, urged the staff to ensure the successful achievement of the mandate.

“We are here to reposition NDDC. We are here to serve people of the Niger Delta and by extension people of Nigeria. We are here to do things differently.
“When I returned from the diaspora in 2014 to join his (Buhari) campaign, what I heard everywhere was ‘that’s not how we do it here. Madam, this is not London; this is not UK.’

“We are going to do things differently and we don’t want to hear that story. We have come with ideas and I believe that each and every one of you
Earlier, the new Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of the commission, Samuel Ogbuku, said it was an auspicious day, which witnessed official handing over from outgoing MD to the successor.

Ogbuku said: “Well, as a board that has just officially resumed today, at the NDDC headquarters, I want to first of all assure you that we are not to antagonise anybody. We are here to also depend on your experience. NDDC administration needs experience. We need your support; we need your cooperation.
“We are not here like one party handing over from one party. We are not here to fight anybody. We are all people from Niger Delta. I want all of you to be rest assured that, based on your competence, you are going to be working with this administration. We are definitely not going to look at mediocrity. Everything has been based on your competence. If you show ingenuity, you have a chance to work with us.”