The Niger Delta Development commission (NDDC) has inaugurated 19 abandoned and failed projects in the past15 months.
Its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Sir Bassey Dan-Abia, stated this in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital at the handing over of a prototype hostel to the University of Uyo.
He said the contract for the prototype hostel was awarded to Basestar Engineering Ltd in 2004, but was delayed due to administration lapses and other logistical problems for almost 10 years.
The commission under the management, he said, within one year in office, had completed nine hostels in various educational institutions in the Niger Delta region.
He announced the donation of a 500KVA generator to the community where the 500-bed hostel is sited, promising that the commission would do more for the region if the host communities to protect government’s facilities in their area.
The NDDC boss assured that the commission would complete all projects, noting that the commission had funding constraints but expressed confidence that the government was ready to touch the lives of all, especially the people of Niger Delta who have remained under developed in spite of their natural resources.
Vice-Chancellor of UNIUYO, Prof Comfort Ekpo thanked the Akwa Ibom State Government for donating the land on which the hostel facility was built.
She praised the management of NDDC for the gesture, believing that the second hostel project funded by the commission at the permanent site of the university would be completed and handed over.
Describing the hostel for medical students as unique, the VC said the facility would create employment, engender peace on campus as well as attract development to the host community and the state.
Mrs Ekpo noted that the NDDC had been a dependable ally in infrastructural development in the university. She requested that more should be done by the NDDC to take the university to higher heights.
The Chairman of the NDDC Board, Chief Bassey Ewa Henshaw, also praised the Akwa Ibom State Government for providing the enabling environment and support for the NDDC to bring development to all sectors.