By Daniel Abia

PORT HARCOURT — OIL and gas communities in the Niger- Delta have spread out an agenda for the Federal Government, International Oil Companies, IOCs, and the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC.

The communities spoke through the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Community Development Committees, CDC of the Niger-Delta Oil and Gas Producing Areas, Elder Joseph Ambakaderimo, a leader of the pan Niger-Delta Elders Forum, PANDEF, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe.

The President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, National Chairman of the Niger-Delta Indigenous Contractors Association, and the Contractors Association of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Chief Dressman Darlington were the other speakers.

This came a few weeks after the stakeholders’ summit the NDDC organised in Port-Harcourt.

Ambakaderimo to FG: Release all outstanding statutory allocation shortfall

The CDC chairman, Ambakaderimo, called on the Federal Government to release all pending shortfall of statutory allocations to the NDDC so that it can function maximally in massive infrastructure provision.

IOCs should pay 

all 3% backlog

“International Oil Companies and Indigenous Oil companies, IOCs should pay all the backlog of the statutory three per cent to the NDDC.

“We deserve good roads and electricity in the Niger-Delta and employment opportunities for the youths of the region. These cannot be achieved without sufficient funding.”

 Re-appraise Light up Niger-Delta program

He advised the Commission to review its Light up Niger-Delta program and focus on the provision of electricity to homes of people in the real oil-producing communities to aid their small businesses, let their children do their school homework, and sleep comfortably at night.

“The quality of work on the solar lighting is poor and should be reviewed for standardization. The NDDC has grown to become a world-class interventionist agency, therefore, there needs to be a unique standard in project execution. 

“The partnership model of funding projects is good, but before many multilateral institutions will participate in such partnership with the NDDC, the Commission must purge itself of the negative insinuations from the past.

Industrialisation 

must be in the template  

“The NDDC must do more to have the people’s buy-in. They must recalibrate their business ethics and engage in image management.”

 He noted that the industrialisation of the region should be one of the items that have to be on the plate of the Commission and establish Special Economic Zones, SEZ, “to cater for small and medium scale enterprises, and this way, we encourage skills acquisition and create wealth for our people”.

Realistic collaboration 

with states

The CDC Board chairman called for an iron-clad synergy between the states of the region and the NDDC to work harmoniously to uplift the people’s living standards and provide world-class infrastructure.

Tear up the creeks 

— Nsuke, MOSOP president

MOSOP president, Nsuke, wants the current management of the Commission to “tear up the creeks, forest, swamp of the Niger-Delta, and build massive infrastructure for the people.

“The NDDC should roll out the bulldozers and swarm buggies to pierce through the rivulets and reclaim land where there is none to put up infrastructure. It should build a road network across the creeks, create jobs for the jobless youths, and be deliberate in turning around the fortunes of the impoverished Niger-Delta people”.

“There is no doubt that the NDDC has been unable to fulfill its mandate to develop the Niger-Delta region. The stronger impediment of the NDDC is corruption.

Questionable 

use of funds

“While we can acknowledge that funding is necessary to address the problems of the Niger-Delta region, the glaring fact is that the NDDC has not justified the use of funds currently flowing to the Commission.

“We will advocate greater funding for the Commission, however, we will want to see greater accountability in the administration of the Commission, especially in respect of its finance.

“For example, over N3 trillion has been spent by the NDDC in the past four years, yet the East-West Road, a critical infrastructure, remains uncompleted. There is no electricity in the Niger-Delta region, jobs are not being created because the infrastructure to support job creation is not there.”

Reorganisation

Considering that the NDDC has been making huge budgets since 1999, Nsuke said the agency was wrecked by state corruption and would want the present board to change that narrative by embarking on people-oriented projects for positive impact.

“The government should consider a robust reorganisation of the NDDC to entrench greater accountability. This should conclude a consideration for a third-party asset management firm in project implementation and a mandate to report its financial status and projects every quarter to the public.”

Diversify devt

— Sara-Igbe, PANDEF leader

PANDEF leader, Chief Sara-Igbe, who advised the Commission to engage in human capital development, said: “For a new roadmap for the NDDC, we want to see roads constructed to link the rural areas with the cities. You are embarking on the development of cities and abandoning the oil-producing communities. This can never stop oil bunkering and other crimes.

 “It should diversify development, get trawlers into the ocean, and engage the youths in commercial fishing.”

 Sara-Igbe said while lighting up the Niger-Delta communities was a welcome development, capital development in the area of agriculture, industrialisation, and massive infrastructure provision should be the focus of the new NDDC under the management of Dr Samuel Ogbuku.

 “This management is doing very well. But beyond that, we want to see more than that. Create more jobs and give us good roads. If the FG is not forthcoming in providing good roads for us, the NDDC should take up that responsibility, especially in the oil communities.”

Open and constructive dialogue

—Darlington, chair, Indigenous contractors

Speaking for the indigenous contractors, the chairman, Chief Darlington, said: “We believe that through open and constructive dialogue, we can address the challenges facing the region and work towards actionable solutions that will have a lasting and positive impact. Our collective efforts and commitment to excellence will be instrumental in driving progress and prosperity in the Niger-Delta.”