Niger Delta Summit: Stakeholders Urge FG To Release N2trn Owed NDDC
…Want Tinubu To Prioritize Environment, Development Sustainability
From ERIC MOORE, Port Harcourt
Participants at the ongoing Niger Delta Stakeholders’ Summit 2024 taking place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, have called on the President Bola Tinubu-led government to, as a matter of urgency, release over N2 trillion owed the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), for the development of the region.
The stakeholders wondered why Federal Government should owe the Commission such amount of money, thereby truncating the development of Niger Delta region.
Also, they berated Federal Government’s unseriousness with rehabilitation of the deteriorating East-West Road for over a decade.
National Chairman of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Senator Emmanuel Essien, in his plea for the release of all over N2 trillion, said it is difficult to set up an agency and expect it to perform wonders without funds.
Essien stressed that if it would require Federal Government to borrow to fund NDDC as it does in other sectors, it (FG) should borrow to fund NDDC’s projects because the interventionist agency needs funds to achieve its mandate.
He added that the Commission should be removed from Single Treasury Account because it would stunt the operations of the agency, saying the NDDC Act should be revisited to address the yearnings of the region.
Also, the President of Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide (IYC), Jonathan Lokpobiri, has called President Tinubu to fast-track the development of Niger Delta region, with emphasis on the deplorable state of East West Road.
He noted enormous problems facing the region and urged Federal Government to prioritize issues that have to do with the oil-rich region because of its immense economic importance to the country.
He said: “Today, we are standing before you because Niger Delta, the problems of Niger Delta are enormous. And the Commission cannot do it alone. I want to appeal to Federal Government to prioritize the issue of Niger Delta.”
Similarly, former President of IYC Worldwide, Udengs Eradiri, has frowned at governors of the nine States of Niger Delta for not showing commitment to supporting the NDDC to achieve its mandate.
He lamented the souring hunger in Nigeria, warning that failure to invest in agriculture would portend serious danger in the future.
Eradiri stated: “There is hunger in Nigeria. There is crisis in the food sector. So, institutions like NDDC must begin to invest in agriculture.
‘If you compare the North and South, the North over the years have used the intervention that comes to them to go through farming. But, in the South, nobody has done anything about agriculture. So, it has become very expensive to begin to invest in agriculture.
“So, I am saying an institution like NDDC should focus on clearing and preparing land for the agriculture we expect to turnaround the food sector in the country. This is an area the NDDC must critically look at. There is a danger ahead.
“In Niger Delta, the governors are the problem. I think with this new synergy they are forming with NDDC, some of them can wake up to their responsibilities. Sometimes, I’m shocked if governors in Niger Delta really know what is happening in the country.
“Everybody is throwing stones on the President. But, the president is releasing money. My state, Bayelsa is receiving N28 billion to N30 billion on a monthly basis. What are they doing with the money? Go and see what is happening in that place. From receiving N12 billion to N28 billion to N30 billion, can government not pay minimum wage with it? Can it not invest in young people?”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of NDDC, Samuel Ogbuku, has commended Tinubu for his commitment to the development of the region, which is why there is need to key into the president’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Ogbuku added that because of the vision of the current management of the Commission, it has tackled the incessant protest at NDDC headquarters.
According to him, the current management is rebirthing the region and Niger Delta needs policies that would renew hope of people of the region.
He added that any programme the commission is embarking is targeted at addressing the needs of the youths in skills, so that they can have skills for sustenance.
He added that the agency put in place policies that are tended to protect the NDDC and also to change narratives of the commission.
“We are doing all these so that nobody would say that we are not doing; we are doing all these to protect the integrity of NDDC.”