Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that a new board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) would be constituted at the end of the implementation of the recommendations of the forensic audit report which is in phases.
He made the pledge to inaugurate the new NDDC board while declaring open the 5th National Council Meeting on Niger Delta held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
He said: “In response to the call of the governors of the South-south geopolitical zone for a forensic audit of NDDC, I undertook some critical reforms and requested a forensic audit of NDDC from inception in 2000 to 2019.
“The report of the audit has bèen submitted and the implementation of its recommendations has commenced in phases.
“I hereby assured you that this process will eventually bring about the constitution of a new board for the commission, which is the desire of most stakeholders in the region.”
The President, who was represented by the Minister of Environment, Mr Mohammed Abdullahe, lauded the leaders and youths of the region for their hard work which has brought relative peace and security being experienced in the region.
This, he said, would certainly accelerate the development of the region and provide opportunities to improve basic services, promote economic growth, and enterprise development and attract development into the Niger Delta region.
Mr Buhari said that the theme of the council meeting Harnessing 21st Century Development Initiative and Strategies for Greater Development Impact in the Niger Delta was appropriate as it would stimulate proper coordination of developmental programmes and projects in the region.
He disclosed that the Strategic Implementation Work Plan (SIWP), a framework meant to address the strategic objectives raised in the federal government’s 20-point agenda and the Pan Niger Delta Forum’s (PANDEF), 16-point agenda was already in operation.
He explained that the SIWP tool provided a strategic framework for the coordination of investment into development and stabilisation interventions in the Niger Delta region to ensure maximum efficiency and impact at a critical time.
According to the President, “this is another effort to ensure a paradigm shift from the old ways of projects imprisonment without synergy among various operators in the region.”
Mr Buhari noted that the new leadership in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs has prioritised the implementation of the harmonisation of all developmental plans of all agencies and development partners operating in the region into a single integrated regional development plan as a road map to accelerate the development of the region.
He said: “As stakeholders, you must engage your minds as you deliberate in this meeting today on issues of economic diversification, fostering economic growth, eradication of extreme poverty, promotion of social inclusion, creation of jobs, and stemming environmental degradation including climate change in the region.”
On his part, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Umana Okon Umana, stressed that the meeting was a very important item on the calendar of events in the ministry as it also offers the NDDC and stakeholders the opportunity to take stock of collective engagement with the mandate of reinventing the Niger Delta region.
In order to achieve its mandate, Umana said the ministry has actively partnered and collaborated with other relevant agencies, development partners, international oil companies (IOCs), and other stakeholders on infrastructure development, investment in social services, and institutional capacity building for the Niger Delta region.
He said the federal government is committed not just to completing the East-West Road but also to turning the Eleme section of the road into a super expressway to underscore its strategic value derived from the quantum of investments across Eleme-Onne axis of the road in Rivers State.
