By Soni Daniel

It certainly did not come as a surprise to many watchers of the Niger Delta Development Commission,NDDC,   penultimate week, when the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof Itse Sagay, lambasted the agency for always having the penchant for wasting scarce resources on extravagance at the expense of developing the squalor-ridden region.

Sagay, a legal luminary, cited the purchase of exotic vehicles valued at N560 million by a former Board of the Commission without adherence to procedures for public procurement.

Although Sagay’s accusation was initially mistaken for the current Board and management, which came into office about four months ago, a member of the NDDC Presidential Advisory Committee, Prof Okon Eminue, later cleared the air stating that the acquisition took place long before the composition of the Board headed by Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba as Chairman and Obong Nsima Ekere as Managing Director.

It would be apt to expect that with the two men in the saddle, a new era of rapid physical development driven by accountability will for once dominate the affairs of the NDDC.

•Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba

Indeed, those who have taken time to look into the books of the Commission are quick to point out that the amount of money received by the intervention agency, since its establishment in 2000,  is not commensurate with the quantity and quality of projects in the nine states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Imo, Delta, Edo, Ondo and Rivers.

The bane of the Commission seems to stem from the mentality of the leadership that once they are appointed,  it is their turn to rip off the  agency.

But the new Board and management of the NDDC appear to have understood where they are coming from and what the people expect from them and have decided to depart from the ugly route of the past.

Evidence abounds that as soon as the Board and management came into office, they immediately tried to put their house in order and change the way things were being done in the Commission.

Perhaps, to show its seriousness and desire to stick to accountability and achieve the much-needed development, the management assembled key staff and development partners for a retreat in February 2017.

The three-day retreat, with the theme, “Collaboration for Sustainable Development”, held in Onne, Rivers State, and was attended by members of the Governing Board, Directors, and strategic stakeholders from within and outside the region.

Ndoma-Egba, in opening the retreat, made it clear that it was solely dedicated to integrity, efficiency, transparency and accountability.

The Chairman explained that the NDDC under their watch would no longer serve as a place where things would be done without adhering strictly to set rules and order.

Obong Nsima Ekwere

As a first step, he pledged to revive the Governing Board of the Commission, which had since been jettisoned so as to play its role in the administration of the agency.

The Chairman said, “A full functional Advisory Committee will ensure harmonisation of projects and programmes with the member states and will make the Commission a partner to the states, rather than the competitor it now appears to be.”

He stated that the Monitoring Committee “consisting of   such number of persons as the President may deem fit to appoint from the public or civil service of the federation, will also be revived, in order to “monitor the management of the funds of the Commission.”

He declared that the Committee “will have access to the books of account and other records of the Commission at all times, and submit periodic reports to the President.’’

The Chairman also blamed the budget process for being “largely responsible for the spate of abandoned projects in the region.’’

He said: “The approach to projects has been ad hoc, arbitrary and self-serving, with very little end-user content. Many projects appear strange to beneficiary communities. The projects are imposed on them and it creates a crisis of ownership.’’

And to set the record straight about where the new management is headed, Ekere revealed what is wrong with the processes.

The MD said: ‘’we must begin to do the right thing in the Commission no matter what it takes. Two things are likely to happen: it’s either we tame the beast or we get bitten by the beast. We hope to tame the beast, for the good of the people.’’

He disclosed that the Niger Delta Master Plan, which originally required 15 years to implement at a cost of $50 billion, has failed to achieve its vision and objectives, despite the region receiving, according to figures released by the Ministry of Petroleum, $40 billion in ten years.

“The 4-R strategy encapsulates the solution required to address the myriad challenges facing NDDC. The Board will restructure the balance sheet, reform governance protocols, restore the core mandate of the Commission and reaffirm “a commitment to doing what’s right and proper,” Ekere added.

If the speeches by the two top officials of the NDDC were anything to go by, then, there is hope that the right thing will be done in the short period of two years that they are to pilot the affairs of the commission.

However, from the speeches and body language of Ndome-Egba and Ekere, it is clear they mean well for the region.