PRESIDENT Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has put an end to speculations on those to serve in the new board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) when he finally made available the list of members of the reconstituted board which has been sent to the senate for confirmation.
In the new board, the President nominated Air vice Marshal Larry Koinyan (Rtd.) of Bayelsa State as Chairman of the new Board and Mr. Chibuzor Ugwoha of Rivers State as the Managing Director of the Commission.
The move to reconstitute the board, according to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Olusegun Adeniyi, is to re-engineer and reposition the commission for greater efficiency and effective service delivery.
The proposed board replaces the out outgoing board led by the Chief Bassey Dan Abia, as acting Chairman, who will now serve as a part time member of the board; and acting Managing Director, Pastor Power Aginighan (Delta), who returns to his former position of Executive Director, Finance and Account.
According to the statement, President Yar’Adua, in a letter to the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, is requesting “for the expeditious confirmation of Air vice Marshal Larry Koinyan (Rtd.) of Bayelsa State as Chairman of the new Board and Mr. Chibuzor Ugwoha of Rivers State as the Managing Director of the Commission”.
Other nominees to the board who are expected to be confirmed by the Senate in consultation with the House of Representatives, according to the statement, include Arc. Esoetok Ikpong Etteh (Akwa-Ibom, Executive Director (Projects) Pastor Power Aginighan (Delta), Executive Director (Finance & Accounts) Mr. Aloysius Nwagboso (Abia), Part Time Member; Chief Dan Abia (Akwa-Ibom), Part Time Member Mr. Anthony Orubo (Bayelsa), Part Time Member; Hon. Ekpo Asuquo Okon (Cross River)
Part Time Member; Mr. Emmanuel O. Ogidi (Delta), Part Time Member; Hon. Jude I. Ise_Idehen (Edo), Part Time Member; and Akeru Ikechukwu Joseph (Imo), Part Time Member.
Others are Mr. Benson G. Enikuomehin (Ondo); Part Time Member; Engr. Emmanuel G. Georgewill (Rivers), Part Time Member; Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (North_West) – Representative of Non-Oil Mineral Producing States; Maj.-Gen. Tunde Ogbeha (Rtd.) (North-Central), Representative of Non-Oil Mineral Producing States; Alhaji Asheikh Jarma (North-East), Representative of Non-Oil Mineral Producing States; and Dr. Daru Owei, Representative of Oil Producing Companies in the Niger Delta
“President Yar’Adua expects the reconstituted Governing Board to provide a dynamic, purposeful and results_oriented leadership that will effectively reposition the NDDC to work in tandem with the recently established Federal Ministry of the Niger Delta to actualize his Administration’s agenda for the rapid socio_economic development of the region”, the statement said.
The 44 year-old nominee for the post of Managing Director, Chibuzor Ugwoha, holds a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning and has about 12 years cumulative experience in Community Development with Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited and Total (Exploration and Production) Nigeria Limited.
Before moving to the oil Industry, Mr. Ugwoha had worked as a Technical Officer with the defunct Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) and as Lecturer/Head of the Department of Building Technology at the Federal College of Education (Technology) in Omoku, Rivers State.
He is currently the Deputy General Manager, JVA (Onshore) Sustainable Development at Total (Exploration & Production) Nigeria Limited.
NONSENSE!!!!!. What has a northerner got to do with the board of NDDC for God sake. This is an insult to this country and the marginalised people of the Niger Delta. What do the Northerners take Nigerians for?, Fools?. To add to the insult, they went and sited Nigerian oil University in Kaduna, so that thier kinsmen will be recruited into the middle and lower cadre positions which should have been enjoyed by the Niger Deltans if the University was located there,
Yar’Adua should continue with his northern agenda, all i know is that “one day monkey go go market, he no go come back.”
yar’adua thinks he can deceive Nigerians with amnesty. He should know that Nigerians are wiser now.
It’s all agreed that Nigeria will remain a crisis driven nation until it disintegrates, either peacefully or through violent bloodshed so each ethnic group part their way. I hope that happen sooner than later because what we’re seeing everyday from the political elites is all-out criminality with grave impunity; where millions and billions is missing in action everyday without trace!
It’s so depressing that the political class are not listening to advice from experts within and outside Nigeria to corrects some of the fundamental wrongs which will bring not only sanity to the system, but key to peace in the rest of the country.
But unfortunately that’s not what they’re doing, instead what they are doing is using the same old style used by former dictators that never help the country move forward. To recruiting(useless) attacks dogs everywhere without genuine duties that can be helpful to communities suffering from ecological war, but main duty is whacking on genuine criticism that cannot be reach with bribes.
Even as these attack dogs are loosing tempers on the Amnesty international reports that exposes their dirty asses to the world, they’d still could not point out any part of the reports that is not corrects.
Instead of taking advantage of the reports that’s not only genuine but comprehensive and update on the region’s problems, to checkmates the country problems fundamentally.
These real criminals are now busy looking for means to blackmail such a wonderful, painstaking reports from a well respected, nonprofit organization that’s well known all over the world for their flawless diligence to achieve unbias reports on growing international crisis. The irony here is that by so doing they’re further exposing their lack of political will to comeout clean to seriously address their internal political problems to the rest of the world.
Meanwhile the political marginalization practiced from the federal level is trickle down to local levels, a clear example is the appointments of the so called NDDC directors and top mangement positions. Even when you cry about manipulations at the federal level, the state level is even worse because it’s unnoticeable!
Look at Rivers State 4example, governor Chibuike Rotimi Ameachi as the chief executive of Rivers State is an Ikwerri’s man, but when it comes for a serious appointment as chairman of the board of the NDDC slot given to Rivers State, Amaechi vehemently gave it to his brother. Ignoring the fact that in a democratic environment such an important position should’ve been given to other ethnic group that’s not Ikwerri origin to provide a level playing field!
I do not understand why Yar Adua is gradually resurrecting corrupt former military men to take over the helm of affairs in Nigeria. What will Koinyan achieve more than the completely Moribond DFFRI projects. All the DFFRI projects failed so what will happen to the NDDC projects which will be carried out under him.
Rather than using professionals, Yar Adua has resorted to corrupt politicians, what will Ogidi contribute rather than replanish his lost cash from the delta elections and power struggle.
Chibuzor Ugwoha CV indicates, he worked for the failed DFFRI and a college of education with no reputation.
Question then is, what particular qualification do these members possess to be appointed.
It is actually expected because Yar Adua himself did not merit his position. He was hand picked as a favour so obviously, his Govt is a favour party!
Dirty appointment list and what does NNDC got to do north in the first place,must the northerner always be appointed to cause confusion in the affair of every ministry in this nation.nonsense.
instead of creating this and that ministry and NDDC OR CDDN and what ever wasting time , why cant the FG award direct contracts and pay the contractors to start development so people will see things happing just the way things are done in FCT . how many ministries did they set up before awarding 10 lane to abuja airport the road that is still very nice. how many ministries did they set up before approve 15billions for Kaduna oil university as they called it a school which they country did not need for any reason . even if should need is common sence that the location should be very near where the oil is located .All this waste of time for ND Development will not serve the country any GOOD
FG should hands off NDDC. I blame ND Governors/politicians. NDDC board is too big. why do we need to include non-oil producing directors? Until ND politicians stop their selfish interest agenda, the the majority will manage are well-being. ND politicians are used to being used as slaves in Nigeria. NDDC is for ND therefore we should be able to do the right thing. we have selfish and primitive politicians managing our affairs in ND..
MR. PRESIDENT YOU ARE NOT LISTENING. YOU SHOULD USE NIGER DELTA MONEY TO DEVELOPE THE NIGER DELTA IMMEDIATELY. ABUJA AND ENVIRONS WERE RAPIDLY DEVELOPED WITH THE MONEY FROM THE NIGER DELTA. THE SAME INTEREST AND SPEED THAT WAS USED TO DEVELOPE ABUJA SHOULD BE USED TO DEVELOPE THE NIGER DELTA. THIS WILL BE A WIN WIN FOR NIGERIA. THE CRISES WILL STOP, INVESTMENTS WILL RUSH IN, THE YOUTHS WILL BE GAINFULLY EMPLOYED, NIGERIA WILL MAXIMISE HER CRUDE OIL AND GAS PRODUCTIONS,TOURISM WILL FLORISH, NIGERIAN INTELLECTUALS AND BUSINESS PEOPLE ABROAD WILL COME BACK TO NIGERIA AND CREATE A LOT OF JOBS. AS LITTLE AS 100,000.00 (ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND) POUNDS COULD ESTABLISH A SMALL COTTAGE INDUSTRY OF A SMALL FARM AND ABOUT SIX WELL PAID JOBS CAN BE CREATED. BY SIMPLE CALCULATION, ABOUT ONE MILLION NIGERIANS ABROAD CAN RAISE THIS TYPE OF MONEY. THAT IS ABOUT SIX MILLION NEW JOBS. MR. PRESIDENT LISTEN! LISTEN!! LISTEN!!! LISTEN!!!. TIME IS NOT ON OUR SIDE AND YOUR SIDE MAKE HASTE NOW!!!!!
The Niger Delta issue can only be solved, if the Federal Government, should come clean and address the followings. The federal government should immediately develope the Niger Delta, with the same speed and zeal they used in developing Abuja and sorroundings. It was money made from the Niger Delta, that was used to develope Abuja. Wht can they not use, Niger Delta money to develope Niger Delta? Amnesty is given to offenders and criminals. Niger Deltans are not criminals as such we do not want amnesty. What we want is fairness and fair play and do to The Niger Delta what you want others to do to you. WHY CAN’T THEY GET IT!
Why can’t they see and do the followings
1. The International Multi National companies in the Niger Delta. These companies operate as cow boys and with reckless abandon, They have destroyed the environment, the waters, the lands of the Niger Delta. They polluted the waters, lands and the environment and as a result, the people can not farm on their lands or fish in their waters, which is their main occupations. The people are dieing dailly of diseases, caused by the polution to the environment. These multi nationals build cheap infrastrutures like pipe lines etc., without regards to internationally accepted norms and good practices. There will never do such things in other parts of the world, where they are operating, otherwise they will pay very dearly for such horrible practices. The multi Nationals have made a lot of money from these sharp practices, at the expence of the lives of the people of the Niger Delta.
2. The next offenders are federal and state governments of all shades, both past and present, who have made lot of money by ignoring and encouraging with nods, the multi National companies to get away with murder. .
3. The third group are the so called selfish leaders, or do i say dealears of the Niger Delta, who have also made a lot of money from the sufferings of the people of The Niger Delta, Some of the them and their collaborators, sponsor the criminals, to forment and cause lost of sufferings to the people of the Niger Delta.
4. The President must without futher delay, publish the names of those, who have been sponsoring these criminals in the Niger Delta. The President must name and shame them.
Now that you have given amnesty, to the genuine agitators, we should now have a truth and reconcilliation commitee, so that we can learn a lesson from all these.
WHAT THE PRESIDENT SHOULD DO NOW!!
The federal government should introduce, a wind fall tax on the huge profits, the multi nationals made over the period and use ALL the money for the IMMEDIATE developement of the Niger Delta and the ecconomic empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta. This is what is done, even in developed countries. In Great Britain, when the Labour came into power, they introdued the wind fall tax, inorder to claw back some of the huge profits, the companies made, when the Conservative party in government, sold very cheaply all government companies during the Privatization process. ALL the money realised was used to creat new jobs and train the unemployed. This move was very popular with the British public. You should bear in mind that, most of the companies, that made the huge profits in The Niger Delta, are British and American companies. This move will be popular in Nigeria and these British and American companies will not fault it. All you have to do is, to refer them to what happened in the United kingdom.
ALL the money realised from the excess crude, which was got any way, from the Niger Delta, should be used for the immediate ecconomic development and empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta.
The federal government should draw down now, 30% of its external revenue for the immediate ecconomic developement of the Niger Delta and ecconomic empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta. The ferderal government should not give the usual excuse, that this draw down will affect the value of the naira, as this is a price that, we should pay for the peace and stability of the Niger Delta and Nigeria. ALL THESE MUST BE DONE NOW!! Mr. President do all these and you have solved the problems in The Niger Delta permanently. If you do ALL of these history and prosterity will remember you very kindly. The Federal government continue to hit their head on the brick wall and talk of amnesty as diversion if they do not address the real issues NO DEAL!!!
The Niger Delta issue can only be solved, if the Federal Government, should come clean and address the followings. The federal government should immediately develope the Niger Delta, with the same speed and zeal they used in developing Abuja and sorroundings. It was money made from the Niger Delta, that was used to develope Abuja. Wht can they not use, Niger Delta money to develope Niger Delta? Amnesty is given to offenders and criminals. Niger Deltans are not criminals as such we do not want amnesty. What we want is fairness and fair play and do to The Niger Delta what you want others to do to you. WHY CAN’T THEY GET IT!
Why can’t they see and do the followings
1. The International Multi National companies in the Niger Delta. These companies operate as cow boys and with reckless abandon, They have destroyed the environment, the waters, the lands of the Niger Delta. They polluted the waters, lands and the environment and as a result, the people can not farm on their lands or fish in their waters, which is their main occupations. The people are dieing dailly of diseases, caused by the polution to the environment. These multi nationals build cheap infrastrutures like pipe lines etc., without regards to internationally accepted norms and good practices. There will never do such things in other parts of the world, where they are operating, otherwise they will pay very dearly for such horrible practices. The multi Nationals have made a lot of money from these sharp practices, at the expence of the lives of the people of the Niger Delta.
2. The next offenders are federal and state governments of all shades, both past and present, who have made lot of money by ignoring and encouraging with nods, the multi National companies to get away with murder. .
3. The third group are the so called selfish leaders, or do i say dealears of the Niger Delta, who have also made a lot of money from the sufferings of the people of The Niger Delta, Some of the them and their collaborators, sponsor the criminals, to forment and cause lost of sufferings to the people of the Niger Delta.
4. The President must without futher delay, publish the names of those, who have been sponsoring these criminals in the Niger Delta. The President must name and shame them.
Now that you have given amnesty, to the genuine agitators, we should now have a truth and reconcilliation commitee, so that we can learn a lesson from all these.
WHAT THE PRESIDENT SHOULD DO NOW!!
The federal government should introduce, a wind fall tax on the huge profits, the multi nationals made over the period and use ALL the money for the IMMEDIATE developement of the Niger Delta and the ecconomic empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta. This is what is done, even in developed countries. In Great Britain, when the Labour came into power, they introdued the wind fall tax, inorder to claw back some of the huge profits, the companies made, when the Conservative party in government, sold very cheaply all government companies during the Privatization process. ALL the money realised was used to creat new jobs and train the unemployed. This move was very popular with the British public. You should bear in mind that, most of the companies, that made the huge profits in The Niger Delta, are British and American companies. This move will be popular in Nigeria and these British and American companies will not fault it. All you have to do is, to refer them to what happened in the United kingdom.
ALL the money realised from the excess crude, which was got any way, from the Niger Delta, should be used for the immediate ecconomic development and empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta.
The federal government should draw down now, 30% of its external revenue for the immediate ecconomic developement of the Niger Delta and ecconomic empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta. The ferderal government should not give the usual excuse, that this draw down will affect the value of the naira, as this is a price that, we should pay for the peace and stability of the Niger Delta and Nigeria. ALL THESE MUST BE DONE NOW!! Mr. President do all these and you have solved the problems in The Niger Delta permanently. If you do ALL of these history and prosterity will remember you very kindly. The Federal government continue to hit their head on the brick wall and talk of amnesty as diversion if they do not address the real issues NO DEAL!!!
HackLord says:
July 3, 2009 at 7:13 pmThere is no ‘ONE NIGERIA’, what we have is an Arewa Republic in disguise. The masses are calling for change and that change can only come when we go our separate ways. The Northerners can do the intelligent thing now by convening a sovereign national conference. However we all know they are not intelligent because all they have achieved in 48 yrs is to plunge Nigeria into topsy-turvyness. Furthermore their stupidity is made even more glaring by their belief that they can control the resources of other regions. They are just postponing the evil day when every region will go their separate ways. Then they will know that there is no powerful country in the world today that is Landlocked. When Oduduwa, Biafra and Niger Delta Republics separate from this scam called Nigeria, the unintelligent North will know how terrible it is for a country to be landlocked. The day is coming when the North will beg other regions to survive. That day is very close and if the North is intelligent they would make peace by convening a SNC now before it is too late. “Pride comes before a crash”