Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The waning spirits of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) were recently boosted by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with the donation of some housing units to the security agency.
The property, located at Omagwa in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, was handed over to the Special Protection Unit of the police and it comprises 68 standard blocks of flats, in addition to a gatehouse, an admin building and commandant quarters, among others.
The NDDC said the project was pursuant to its corporate social responsibility (CSR). It was renamed President Muhammadu Buhari Nigeria Police (Special Protection Unit) Bade 6 Barracks.
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Godswill Akpabio, while addressing reporters in his office in Abuja recently, announced that the project would be commissioned by President Buhari on Tuesday.
He expressed appreciation to Mr Buhari for seeing to the eventual completion of this all-important project seven years after it was abandoned.
The Minister stated that the President’s special interest in the project was anchored on his commitment to boost the work of the Nigeria Police Force in the Niger Delta, as well as efforts at facilitating sustainable regional development.
While reassuring the people that the new NDDC is renewing the confidence of Niger Deltans in the government’s seriousness to bring development to the communities, Mr Akpabio expressed hopes that the project would boost the morale of the police in the maintenance of law and order in the society.
It would be recalled that following deafening outcries of people of Niger Delta, over the rot in the NDDC, especially in the areas of non-execution of and abandonment of projects duly awarded to contractors, Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative (CQ) embarked on several quests to situate the veracity or otherwise of the outcries.
The non-governmental organization on July 25, 2019, visited the project site. With the physical assessment of the state of the abandoned project, the group articulated and used its broad media platforms to call the attention of the federal government to the deplorable state of the project.
Reacting to the news of the completion and planned official commissioning of the project, the founder/President of Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative, Mrs Obiaruko Ndukwe, thanked Mr Akpabio for following through with his assurance to the CQ that the project would be given expeditious attention.
She also commended the sole Administrator of the commission, Mr Effiong Akwa, for acting true to power in seeing to the delivery of this project.
