The Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC) Chairman of the Governing Board, Mrs. Lauretta Onochie, has promised that the Commission’s new leadership will make an effort to improve the lives of those living in the Niger Delta.
Onochie stated that “it is necessary to chart a new course for the NDDC, different from what obtained in the past” during a meeting with management and workers of the Commission at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt.
“We are here to do things differently,” she proclaimed. To be able to accomplish the goal of accelerating the development of the Niger Delta region, we must collaborate with new ideas.
“The NDDC was established specifically for the people of the Niger Delta region. As an interventionist agency, it is meant to bring prosperity to the Niger Delta region. We are here to serve the people of the region and by extension serve Nigeria. We are here to reposition the NDDC.”
According to the Chairman, President Muhammadu Buhari was eager to reposition the NDDC to guarantee that it served the needs of the local populace. She stated that the Board members she would be leading would “work as a team committed to that vision” to make this reality.
Our goal is to make Niger Delta residents’ lives better, she said. The Niger Delta must benefit from the funds intended for its development.
Chief Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, the NDDC Managing Director, also spoke during which he congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari for establishing the NDDC Board and assured that its members were dedicated to the growth of the Niger Delta area.
According to Ogbuku, the NDDC Governing Board will draw on the rich experience of the NDDC personnel and all stakeholders rather than trying to provoke anyone or any group. In order to fulfil its objective, the NDDC Governing Board, according to him, would foster an environment in which innovation and creativity can flourish within the Commission.
He said: “I want to assure you that we are not here to antagonize anybody. We are here to depend on your experience. We need your cooperation, we need your support. You need an enabling environment to showcase your ingenuity. You are well trained and experienced to give the people of the Niger Delta region the best.”
Ogbuku praised Engineer Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, the former acting managing director, for leading the NDDC during a time without a crisis.
In his handover notes, Audu-Ohwavborua noted that the NDDC had taken action to restore the East-West road’s flood-damaged sections, “to make the road motorable and provided palliatives for victims of the flood disaster in all the nine mandate states in the Niger Delta region,” during his brief term in office.
He stated that the Commission’s budget for 2021 and 2022 was pending approval from the Presidency and that during his two-month term, over a thousand unfinished projects distributed over the nine mandate States of the Niger Delta region were cancelled.