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NDDC showcases achievements, celebrates 25 years of service delivery
From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) recently gathered media experts at Asaba, the capital of Delta State, for a World Press Conference on its activities in the last 25 years.
At the event, the intervention agency declared that it has achieved remarkable milestones in the last 25 years and made a significant impact on the lives of the people of the Niger Delta region.
The Managing Director of NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, stated that the Commission had lived up to its motto of ‘Making a Difference.’ He stated that the current board and management have initiated several projects and programmes that have helped to change the story of the Niger Delta for the better.
He said: “President Bola Tinubu gave us a matching order during our inauguration to positively turn things around in the Niger Delta region.”
Ogbuku pledged that the NDDC would adhere strictly to the President’s directive to the Commission to complete all ongoing projects in the region, including roads, bridges, schools, and healthcare facilities.
He affirmed that the Commission was engaging all stakeholders to ensure harmony and cooperation in the task of developing the hitherto neglected Niger Delta region.
He noted: “It is not only by our efforts; it is the collaborative efforts from all the stakeholders who believe the time has come when there should be stability in the NDDC and that stability is a challenge to us to ensure that we deliver development to the people of the Niger Delta region.
“We believe that in partnership with stakeholders, we are going to achieve more, and development in our region will be faster and more holistic.”
Speaking of the achievements of the commission in the last 25 years, he disclosed: “For us at NDDC, we are targeting legacy projects. Our mandate is to complete those critical projects. We are intervening in critical areas because they are our responsibility.
“The Okrika-Borokiri Bridge was awarded in 2012 and that project was abandoned since then. Today, we have taken over that project in partnership with Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) to partner and finish it, and the contractor has mobilized to site.
“The same thing with the Bonny Ring road, the same thing with Kar-Ataba bridge. So many projects like that. We have to look at such critical projects, the heavy ones, not the small one kilometre or two kilometres roads.
“I mentioned the Okitipupa electrification. That project was abandoned, the people lost hope. But, today, they are happy with the NDDC and the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
Ogbuku stated that NDDC under the leadership of the current board and management, had demonstrated commitment to achieving the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu, who is concerned about development of Niger Delta region.
He further said that to achieve the mandate given by President Tinubu for the Niger Delta region, the commission decided to engage stakeholders in the area to achieve the desired goals. He said the commission developed a policy of transitioning from transaction to transformation and digitalising their procurement process so that nobody can fake the procurement documents of the Commission.
According to Ogbuku, “through the initiative of the board and management, we have restructured the administrative architecture of the Commission to its 13 statutory directorates, introduced robust corporate governance protocols, including KPIs and SOPs, through collaboration with KPMG. This formalised a value-driven institutional culture anchored on ethics and performance.”
He recalled that last year, the NDDC commissioned five major development projects across the Niger Delta region. The projects, according to him, included the 27.5-kilometre Ogbia-Nembe Road, constructed in partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). The road, with seven bridges and 50 culverts, connects 14 communities in Bayelsa State.
“Similarly, we commissioned the six kilometers Iko-Atabrikang-Akata-Opulom-Ikot Inwang-Okoroutip-Iwochang Road and 600 meters Ibeno Bridge in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, as well as the nine kilometers Obehie-Oke-Ikpe Road in Ukwa West LGA of Abia State.
“We commissioned the 45-km double-circuit 33KV feeder line from Omotosho Power Station to Okitipupa in Ondo State. This electrification project supplies light to the 25 local government areas that have been in darkness for 15 years. We also inaugurated the 1×15MVA 33/11KV electricity injection substation in Amufi, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area in Benin City, Edo State.”
He expressed delight over an improved statutory financial obligation rendered by the management of International Oil Companies (IOCs) and other stakeholders to its operational funding in the last two years, noting that it has helped in enhancing its engagements in the region.
He disclosed that the decision of the management and board of NDDC to review the relationship with its various stakeholders has yielded positive responses in terms of more financial commitments by the partners.
Ogbuku explained that one of the greatest achievements of the current board and management was to seek ways of improving its financial base, especially with the IOCs, and had to engage the management of these companies in series of dialogues where they opened up that they equally needed some projects to be cited within their host communities as well.
According to him, “It was during those engagements that the management of these companies made it clear that their reluctance to meet up with their counterpart – funding before now was because the previous management did not consider our host communities in selecting their projects, and at the end of the day, the people in such communities felt they were not being impacted, and this put so much burden on them.
“It was after our series of engagements that we now have staff of these IOCs and other partners sit with us and make inputs in our choices of projects to these communities, and since we took that decision, we have been receiving the cooperation of these establishments in terms of meeting their financial obligations, and our revenue generation has since improved.
“It was based on that understanding that we are now able to increase our projects’ spread across the region, in line with the marching order by President Tinubu, to make a significant impact in touching the lives of people in various communities that are oil-producing areas.”
He added that the commission is determined to unlock the region’s vast agricultural potential to drive sustainable development in the region. He informed that the vision to boost the agricultural sector was part of President Tinubu’s mandate to ensure legacy projects through the NDDC in the region.
Ogbuku said revitalising the region’s agricultural potential would create economic opportunities, improve food security, and enhance the livelihoods of the people in the Niger Delta region. He added that an agricultural summit would be convened to chart a roadmap on how best to harness the resources of the Niger Delta for the development of the region.
In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the NDDC Governing Board, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, affirmed that the NDDC was working with stakeholders to deliver effective and efficient services to the people. He noted that members of the fourth estate of the realm are critical stakeholders that NDDC must partner with to advance the course of development.
