Issues
The Challenge Before New NDDC Board
President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated a new board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), with a stern warning that it should not dabble into the political intrigues of the Niger Delta region.
Jonathan, who gave the warning after the inauguration of the 18-man board in Abuja, called on the new NDDC board, which has Dr Tariah Tebepah as its Chairman, to learn from the errors of their predecessors by avoiding partisan politics.
“I believe you will learn from the mistakes of your immediate predecessors. I always emphasise that people must not play politics with the development of our people.
“The past board was camping all kinds of criminals in hotels in the name of helping politicians. If I hear that, I will be very angry with you. You must focus on the development of the Niger Delta…,’’ he said.
Jonathan also called on the new board to set new performance standards in the Niger Delta region.
He appealed to the board, which is expected to serve out the tenure of the board dissolved in September, and the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to complement the training of repentant militants under the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme by initiating skills’ acquisition programmes for other youths in the region.
The board members are Dr Christian Obo (Managing Director), Mr. L.E.J. Konbaye (Executive Director, Finance & Accounts), Mr Edikan Eshett (Executive Director, Projects) Mr Edward Orubo, Dr Ibitamuno Aminigo, Chief Solomon Ogba, Mr Imaobong Johnson and Mr Aloysius Nwagboso.
The new board also includes Mr Omogbemi Oladele, Mr Peter Ezeobi, Mr Dominic Aqua Edem, Mr Osabon Imaru, Mr Joe Jakpa, Sen. Garba Yakubu Lado, Rima Shawulu Kwewum, Sen. Tunde Ogbeha.
The Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, and the Minister of Environment, Mrs Hadiza Mailafa, are also members of the board.
Speaking after the board’s inauguration, the board’s Chairman, Tebepah, pledged that his team would strive to meet the people’s expectations, adding that they would also work in line with the transformation agenda of the Jonathan administration.
The journey toward the new board began on Sept. 13, when President Goodluck Jonathan formally announced the dissolution of the third Board of Directors and management of the NDDC.
The board was chaired by retired AVM Larry Koinyan, while the Mr Chibuzor Ugwuoha was the commission’s Managing Director. Messrs Power Aghinighan and Esoetok Etteh were the Executive Director (ED) of Finance and Administration and the Executive Director of Projects respectively in the dissolved board.
NDDC was established in 2000 by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as an interventionist agency to foster development in the Niger Delta area in a structured, coordinated manner.
The commission had two previous management boards. The first was chaired by Chief Onyema Ugochukwu from Abia, while the second was headed by Amb. Sam Edem from Akwa Ibom.
The two boards witnessed some crises which, according to observers, believed hindered their efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the Niger Delta people via purposeful programmes.
The third board, which was inaugurated by former President Umaru Yar’Adua on Aug. 6, 2009, however, failed to douse the crisis, as the government and the people sooner got fed up with the crises trailing the boards’ assignment.
The board was, therefore, dissolved in September, following the recommendations by an administrative panel of inquiry constituted by Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF).
Problems started in the third NDDC board on Dec. 14, 2009 when Aginighan, the ED (Finance and Administration), reported Ugwuoha, the Managing Director, to the board chairman, Kionyan, accusing him of non-compliance with a directive regarding the change of signatories to the commission’s bank accounts.
Besides, there was a disagreement between the Koinyan-led board and Ugwuoha over the management of some NDDC projects worth N69 billion.
The board also queried alleged transfer of $20 million (about N3 billion) from the NDDC’s account in Britain’s Union Bank to the UK branch of First Bank Plc. and this led to the inauguration of the administrative panel chaired by Mr Steve Oronsaye, which finally led to the board’s dissolution.
While the crisis lasted, observers noted that most projects awarded by the commission were either poorly executed or abandoned by contractors, as little attention was given to the projects’ supervision by NDDC officials.
Apparently irked by the controversies that affected the service delivery of successive NDDC management teams, many stakeholders stress the need for the government to appoint persons who could oversee the implementation of the commission’s master plan into its board.
Observers recall that about 10 years ago, the NDDC initiated a development master plan that was hinged on a comprehensive analysis of the development, imperatives, challenges and opportunities in the Niger Delta area.
The plan, which noted that the Niger Delta region is rich in human and natural resources, however, stressed that poverty was widespread in the area
Noting the high incidence of diseases and infant mortality in the area, the plan stressed the need to tackle the region’s poor sanitation, while boosting its industrial development.
It also underscored the need to develop the area’s transportation system, while addressing problems relating to erratic electricity supply, poor education and health facilities.
Besides, the plan outlined vast opportunities existing in agricultural production and crop processing, aqua culture, livestock production and solid minerals exploitation, as well as in oil and gas development ventures in the upstream and downstream sectors.
Observers, nonetheless, bemoan the failure to record substantial achievements in the Niger Delta area’s development, 10 years after the launch of the master plan, insisting that this constitute a food for thought for the new NDDC board.
Stakeholders, nonetheless, urge the new board members should strive to give quality service delivery and avoid the temptation of viewing their appointments as a chance to have a cut in the national cake.
Chief Don Ubani, Abia State’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, stressed that the new NDDC board must be conversant with the rationale behind the commission’s establishment and work towards actualising the specific objectives.
“NDDC as an agency set up to make the people of Niger Delta region happy as a result of their God-given natural resources, which also serve as the economic nerve-centre of the nation.
“If the new board members go for personal aggrandisement at the expense of the overall interests of the region, that will scuttle the vision of the founding fathers of the NDDC and the government,’’ he said.
Ubani emphasised that the internal squabbles which affected the functions of the last board of directors should be avoided by the new management team.
“The last board of the NDDC was enmeshed with internal squabbles which defeated the objective of their assignment,’’ he said.
On his part, Mr Sampson Akanimo, a conservationist, urged members of the new NDDC board to refrain from the temptation of having the notion that their appointments were some kind of political rewards.
Akanimo, who hails from Akwa Ibom, noted that many people in the Niger Delta area viewed the NDDC’s operational approach, since its inception, as not purposeful enough.
“In the area of infrastructure development, the NDDC ought to have completed the construction of the Niger Delta Coastal Road and the development of new towns in each of the nine constituent states of the region, as stated in the master plan,’’ he said.
Akanimo suggested that the services of professional developers should be engaged by the NDDC, just like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to oversee the implementation of the commission’s projects.
‘The new board should not be a ‘merry-go-round’ board. The board should work like the UNDP, so as to facilitate the proper implementation of the projects which the NDDC master plan contains.
“The people are eager to see the NDDC master plan, drawn up by Chief Onyema Ugochukwu-led board of directors, implemented to the letter. This is because most of the projects initiated outside the plan have all collapsed,’’ he said.
He urged the new board to always follow the due process in all their transactions, particularly those concerning contract awards, while urging the government to investigate and punish past corrupt officials to serve as deterrent to others.
Akanimo urged oil bearing communities in the region to adopt the UNEP Report on the Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland as a benchmark for addressing environmental degradation cases in the entire Niger Delta region.
“Niger Delta communities, whether in Izombe, Imo state, Eket, Akwa Ibom, Obirikom or Rivers, should all adopt the Ogoni UNEP report as an instrument for addressing perceptible environmental concerns.
“Our belief is that all ecosystem and human ecosystem are the same; the activities of these oil companies have resulted in people living under dreadful conditions — in squalor and abject poverty,’’ Akanimo said.
Mr Ledum Mitee, President of Movement of Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), said that the government had been talking about implementing youth-empowerment policies, adding, however, that the actions so far taken by the government to address the needs of the youth were very inadequate.
“Economic policies in the region have of late been afflicted by what could be termed ‘Acute Youth Deficiency Syndrome’, policy bereft of the youths’ interests,’’ he said.
Mitee also noted that government at all levels, interventionist agencies and oil firms must necessarily pursue a youth policy that was different from the current tactics of placating the most violent or militant segment of the youth.
“Such pacification approach should not be allowed to continue, as it only tends to reinforce militancy and violence,’’ he said.
However, Mr Martins Amabipi, a Port Harcourt-based public relations practitioner, stressed the need for the new NDDC board to sanitise the commission and reposition it for effective service delivery.
“Right from the inception of Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) to the current NDDC set-up, the system has been embroiled in crises and corruption. This development defeats the rationale behind the establishment of the commission.
“Fortunately, the people’s expectations are still high but if the menace of corruption is not adequately tackled, it will be extremely difficult to implement the master plan for the Niger Delta’s development, drawn up by the administration of Ugochukwu,’’ he said.
Mr Paulyn Igbokwe, who hails from Izombe, an oil-bearing community in Imo, said that the new board should visit some of the sites of the projects executed by past NDDC management to ascertain the state of the projects.
“If you tour project sites such as the Mgbele-Izombe and Izombe-Agwa road projects, where the NDDC claimed to have carried out mega construction works, you will see how one 4-km road was cut into two parts, forcing road users to have a harrowing experience while travelling on the road,” he said.
Igbokwe, nonetheless, urged the new board to seek the communities’ input into projects before embarking on such projects so as to forestall the waste of scarce resources on projects with little or no impact on the people’s living standards.
“In Izombe, for instance, we no longer want boreholes that dry off a year after construction. NDDC should help in the design of a development blueprint for Izombe so as to give the town a decent look, in line with its status as an emerging metropolitan area in Imo State,’’ he said.
Mr Prince Biira, the Chairman of a coalition of youth groups in Rivers, who commended the President for dissolving the former NDDC board, however, advised the new management of the commission to refrain from any kind of maladministration.
“I feel the board’s dissolution has satisfied our yearning that the activities of the NDDC ought to be probed. We now expect the new board to shun all acts of corruption because youths will not tolerate such aberration if noticed, ” he said.
Sharing similar sentiments, Mr Onengiya Erekosime, the President of Foundation for Peace and Non-Violence in Nigeria, urged the new NDDC board to be wary of the activities of some youth groups who were fond of loitering around the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt.
“These groups are ready tools in the hands of some unscrupulous politicians who usually sponsor them to protest against any NDDC official who is not protecting their interests,’’ he said.
Erekosima advised the new board not to fall prey to the antics of such youth groups, stressing that it should rather evolve a pragmatic youth empowerment policy which will enable the area’s youths to discover their talents and live useful lives.
Observers concede that a lot of work awaits the new NDDC board in implementing the projects identified in the master plan for the Niger Delta area’s development.
They, nonetheless, advise the new management team to shun bickering and corruption in all their efforts to transform the development of the area. (NANFeatures)
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
