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Tag: NDDC

  • NDDC partners with UN Agency in $60 million agric programme

    • To help reduce unemployment in Niger Delta

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is partnering the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on a $60 million dollars (about N21 billion) job creation programme, which will help reduce youth unemployment in the Niger Delta.

    The Managing Director of NDDC, Nsima Ekere, disclosed this yesterday when IFAD officials paid a courtesy visit to management of the commission at its corporate headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    He said the commission would sustain and strengthen its partnership with the UN agency, as part of efforts to create wealth and transform the region.

    Ekere, who was represented by NDDC’s Executive Director, Projects, Samuel Adjogbe, an engineer, disclosed that the commission carried out a baseline study to gather data, which would help it to produce a good design for the new IFAD programme.

    He said: “If there is something I will really want to support, it is the collaboration that IFAD is bringing.

    “NDDC is ready to partner with IFAD in the new programme, because we need to diversify the mono economy of the country.

    “It is a thing of joy that IFAD is partnering with us to achieve this goal. We hope that what we have gathered as the base line survey will help us to produce a design that will give us something reliable when we get to the implementation stage.

    “NDDC is committed to getting many people, particularly our youths, back to work, because we need to get our people to be meaningfully engaged. This will help strengthen the process of our engagement with them, which we have begun in earnest.”

    Managing director of the interventionist agency also stated that the commission had always recognised agriculture as the way forward for Nigeria, adding that it would continue to support IFAD to integrate rural dwellers into agricultural entrepreneurship.

    He said: “Oil and gas have given us a take-off platform. Now, we must diversify.”

    The representative of the IFAD Rome and Country Director in Nigeria,  Dr. Rich Pitrine, stated that the new programme, which would run for seven years, would revolve around enterprise development for youths and women.

    Pitrine said: “We understand the lack of opportunities, which is an unfortunate disease for your region (Niger Delta). We understand very well that there are phenomenal things which can be done if proactive investments are done.”

    IFAD representative also stated that the programme would broaden the economic horizon of budding entrepreneurs and set the stage for the emergence of a sustainable system that would engage youths in enterprise-based jobs.

    He noted that IFAD was counting on NDDC to give the necessary support to build the new project.

    Pitrine said: “We have invested with NDDC in the past on community-based Natural Resource Management Programme (CBNRMP) that has helped to create wealth in the Niger Delta region. We have learnt some lessons from that and we have had some successes.

    “We are an investor and not a project implementing team. We are not coming to Nigeria or to the Niger Delta to take over. We are coming here to help you to invest in your vision and invest jointly with you to realise an outcome which will create employment for you in this region particularly.”

    NDDC Director, Agriculture and Fisheries,   Marcel Eshiogu, while also speaking, lauded the gains of the partnership with IFAD, noting that the commission had been working with the UN agency since 2005.

  • NDDC Projects: Warri monarch, Itsekiri protest ‘marginalisation’

    NDDC Projects: Warri monarch, Itsekiri protest ‘marginalisation’

    Itsekiri ethnic nationality in Delta State is poised for war with the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, over alleged marginalization in the allocation of 375 projects for which tenders were invited last week Wednesday.

    Leaders of the ethnic group and the monarch, the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli, are seething over their zero share of the 61 projects sited in Delta state and lack of budgetary allocation to ongoing projects in Itsekiri areas.

    The Nation reliably gathered that the Olu-in-Council, the highest decision making body of the ethnic group, will hold emergency meeting over the matter on Saturday, days after the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought met to review it.

    “This is the height of injustice we have suffered in the hands of the NDDC and the government since the inception of the commission. For you to neglect an important ethnic group that produces a sizeable portion of the wealth from the oil and gas industry speaks volume.

    “The Olu-in-Council, headed by Ogiame Ikenwoli, will meet on Saturday to deliberate and take a decision to make our displeasure known to the Federal Government,” a source privy to the meeting said.

    The member representing Warri Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Mr. Daniel Reyenieju, expressed displeasure at the allocation to his constituency and called for a mass action against NDDC.

    A post on his Facebook page, which he confirmed in a telephone chat with our reporter, stated: “I call on us (members of Warri Federal Constituency) to do more and if possible stage a huge protest against the management of NDDC.

    “Indicate your readiness to march on NDDC!!!” he urged.

    Mr. Amorighoye Mene, Secretary of the ILOT, confirmed to our reporter that the group was peeved by the development, stressing,“The current NDDC management is very unfair and biased against the Itsekiri nation.

    “It is also pertinent to add that there is serious underfunding of ongoing projects in Itsekiri areas. Contractors handling the Koko-Ogheye road and Ugborodo projects are being underfunded and not paid for certificates issued.”

    “This is very unfair to our people and the current management of NDDC is biased against the Itsekiri because it is difficult to justify how out of 375 and 61 in Delta, not a single project in Itsekiri area. No explanation is good enough.

    “We by this statement draw the attention of the world to the action of the NDDC. It has never been like this. We call on the FG to urge the NDDC to review the 2016, to include Itsekiri area”

     

  • Youths seek appointment of Imo representative on NDDC board

    Youths seek appointment of Imo representative on NDDC board

    Imo State youths have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint another state representative into the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board.

    They told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Owerri the delay in appointing the representative amounted to injustice.

    NAN recalls that President Buhari appointed Senator Osita Izunaso, who is not from an oil-producing area, a board member, but he later resigned.

    Mr. Chigozie Ohiri, the president, Niger Delta Youth Movement, Imo State chapter, appealed to the president to appoint an indigene of oil-producing area into the board.

    He said the appointment of a representative of Ohaji/Egbema or Oguta Local Government, oil-producing areas, would give the people a sense of belonging.

    Ohiri complained that none of the N30 billion contracts the commission awarded was located in the two local governments.

    “Our investigation shows none of the 15 road contracts awarded by NDDC at the cost of over N30 billion is located in Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta.

    “These are the two oil-bearing councils.

    “This is an abuse of NDDC intra-state sharing formula as enshrined in the act establishing the commission,’’ he said.

    Mr. Ozor Okorie said it was necessary for the President to appoint a representative from the oil-bearing part of the state into the board.

  • NDDC will miss him, says Ekere

    The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsima Ekere, has described the late former military and civilian Governor of the defunct Mid-West and Bendel States, Dr Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, as a great Niger Deltan, who will be greatly missed.

    He said he received with deep sadness, the news of the demise of Ogbemudia at 84.

    Ekere, yesterday in Port Harcourt, noted that the deceased displayed uncommon maturity, wisdom, courage, pragmatic vision, dedication to service and unflinching commitment at a time of deep national trials.

    He said: “His time still resonates in the history of Edo and Delta States, which were carved out of the old Bendel State as a time of great achievement and development.

    “He leaves behind a great void that will be difficult to fill. He leaves behind a body of work, a library of vision and a roadmap of engagement with the people that cannot wholly be emulated.

    “He leaves also a guiding light, by his endearing love for his people and service to humanity, which will continue to show us all the way to go. It fills us with hope that we can duly serve our people and help fulfill their dreams.”

    Ekere stressed: “At the NDDC, we will continue to take a cue from his work and his example as well as comfort in his legacy to continue to work to facilitate sustainable regional development and help create the new Niger Delta of which he dreamt and contributed in no small measure to actualise.”

  • Report indicts NDDC on Edo road projects

    Report indicts NDDC on Edo road projects

    A report by a technical committee to review road projects executed by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Edo State has indicted the commission for executing substandard jobs.
    It said the roads were below required standards and added that a total 101 roads out of the 248 roads awarded by the NDDC has been executed.
    The report said work was yet to commence on 86 road projects while many of the roads already awarded were found abandoned.
    Chairman of the committee, Mr Erasmus Osahon, who spoke while submitting the committee’s report to Governor Godwin Obaseki, said the NDDC, started awarding road projects in the state in 2004.
    Osahon stated that the committee in the course of the assignment ascertained the total number of roads executed by the NDDC, stage of accomplishment, quality of work done, and make appropriate recommendation.
    Among the recommendations were review of road projects, prompt payment of contractors and training of engineers.
    He said such would help to stem the rate of abandonment of road projects and recommended that the commission should liaise with the state ministry of works to avoid duplication of projects and double expenditure.
    Governor Obaseki expressed disappointment with the quality of work of many roads projects executed by the NDDC.
    Obaseki opined that intervention institutions like the NDDC ought to ensure that only tested and trustworthy contractors were selected to handle road projects.
    According to him, “NDDC cannot be an appellation for substandard work, and the quality of their projects should improve.
    “We have to, from now on, be involved in their projects and in the selection of contractors to work in our state.
    “We want to understand why inferior materials are used for an NDDC project. From now on, we want to insist that the same quality of materials we use on our roads are the same NDDC contractors who operate in the state must use.
    “We have problems with the designs of their roads as reported by the committee; how can we design roads in a rain forest to have very narrow drains and expect that those roads will last?
    “Even from the design stage, we want to be involved. We will also like to interrogate all the contractors that have worked with us, we are imploring that NDDC gives the required cooperation.”

  • Sagay accuses Customs, NDDC, others of ‘bold and brazen corruption’

    Sagay accuses Customs, NDDC, others of ‘bold and brazen corruption’

    Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) Chairman Itse Sagay (SAN) yesterday accused the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) of corruption and “brazen impunity”.

    He said the “recklessness” with which public officers spend public funds was “insensitive to the point of insanity”.

    “Yes, I mean that. The level of insensitivity has become pathological,” Prof. Sagay said.

    He spoke in Abuja at the National Dialogue on Corruption, organised by the Office of the Vice President in collaboration with PACAC.

    On how pervasive graft has become, Sagay said: “Corruption is omnipresent in Nigeria. High and low office holders, public and private sectors, the executive, legislative and judicial sectors, immigration, police, the civil service, everywhere.

    “What is extremely disturbing is the fact that people’s attitude to corruption has hardened. There is no longer any fear of consequences.

    “Bribe is demanded brazenly with a sense of entitlement. So too has insensitivity to misuse, abuse and waste our common patrimony, even in these lean times.”

    He said in the face of financial drought and famine, the National Assembly bought cars worth N30million each for oversight functions.

    “The NDDC, which is the other name for uncompleted projects, has just bought over 70 cars. About eight of them are super Lexus Jeeps costing N78million each,” he said.

    Sagay said the money could have been spent on infrastructure, housing, schools and hospitals.

    He said it amounted to shedding crocodile tears for the NDDC management to complain of lack of funds for projects.

    He said Customs had completely ignored the fight against corruption, operating as if it is not in Nigeria.

    Sagay said last December, his cousin who was relocating to Nigeria from the United States after 26 years paid fraudulent duties for household goods.

    “Bribe was demanded at every stage of the obstacle race called custom clearance, involving long table, short table and other ingenious instruments of extortion,” he said.

    For instance, he said his cousin paid N1.2million for “approval of personal effects”, and paid for physical examination of items because the scanner was not working, among others.

    Sagay said the huge recoveries being made by the Federal Government from former government officials showed that the “orgy of monumental looting continues”.

    “We have to ask ourselves what the problem really is. We are definitely overwhelmed by an epidemic of kleptomania. But do we have a collective psychiatric problem?

    “Why would a person loot what he cannot spend in 10 life times while exposing the rest of the population to misery, hunger, poverty, wretchedness, and even death,” Sagay said.

    He slammed judges for violating the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which provides that ruling on preliminary objections shall be made at the time of delivery of judgment.

    “In spite of these clear provisions, some judges are still granting adjournments running into months and, worse still, will adjourn their cases to give a ruling on a preliminary objection instead of giving the ruling at the same time as the judgment on the substantive criminal matter.

    “What is more, contrary to Section 306, which provides that an application for stay of proceedings in respect of a criminal matter shall not be entertained, some courts still adjourn in order to await the outcome of an interlocutory appeal.

    “All this is illegal and strictly constitute acts of misconduct on the part of the judge. The outcome of all this is that we have over 100 high profile cases not going nowhere,” he said.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki, represented by Senator Chukwuka Utasi, faulted Sagay’s comments on the National Assembly.

    He said it would be “counter productive” to “demonise” others.

    “It does not help in confidence building within government and across the civil population when institutions of state are demonised  to put a shine on others,” he said.

  • Sagay wrong, says NDDC

    Sagay wrong, says NDDC

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) faulted Prof. Itse Sagay’s allegation that the commission is wasting money on purchase of vehicles.

    Sagay claimed that NDDC bought over seventy cars  which included eight super Lexus that cost N70 million each and ten Toyota Landcruiser  at N65 million each.

    Spokesman of the agency Chijioke Amu-Nnadi declared that no such purchase had been made since November 4 when the governing board came on board.

    Amu-Nnadi said the Chairman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba and the Managing Director, Nsima Ekere and the two Executive Directors were still using their private vehicles.

    “The NDDC is only now in the process of acquiring work vehicles and it is adhering strictly to due process. The vehicles are five Toyota Prado jeeps, ten Toyota Hilux trucks, four Toyota Landcruiser jeeps, one Toyota Coaster bus and two Toyota Hiace buses.

    “The commission (NDDC) has just received the Due Process Compliance Certificate from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and it is preparing the mandatory memo for the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).”

  • NDDC redeploys 11 directors in major shake-up

    NDDC redeploys 11 directors in major shake-up

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has redeployed 11 directors to different offices and directorates to boost its performance in the development of the Niger Delta.

    The Managing Director of NDDC, Mr Nsima Ekere, said on Thursday in Port Harcourt that the decision to shake-up the NDDC was taken after the commission’s retreat in Port Harcourt.

    He said the affected directors were drawn from the commission’s offices in Abuja, Bayelsa, Imo, Ondo, Delta and Rivers states.

    The NDDC chief gave the names of the affected officers redeployed as: Dr Princewill Ekanim, who was redeployed to the office of the Managing Director as Director of Special Duties.

    Mr Effiong Ephraim moves from Special Duties to head Abuja Liaison office, while Mrs Rachael Odiri, formerly Head of Bayelsa State office now heads Abuja office.

    Also, Mr Wanoro Weli, a former Director in charge of Utility Infrastructure Development and Waterways would head Ondo State office, replacing Mr Emma Audu who becomes Director of Project Monitoring and Supervision.

    In similar vein, Mr Nosa Agbongiasede takes charge of Imo State office, while Godwin Jaja, formerly Director of Imo office would take charge of Human Resources Directorate.

    Mr Etim Eyoette was elevated to the position of Acting Director, Utility Infrastructure Development and Waterways (UIDW), while Mr Ndubuisi Ahiakwo was moved from UIDW in Delta to Project Monitoring and Supervision (Western Zone).

    Mr Uno Uno now heads Project Monitoring and Supervision (Eastern Zone) while Mr Felix Aomreore becomes Head, Project Monitoring and Supervision (Central Zone).

    Ekere said the redeployment would enable the commission to actualise reforms designed to restore the commission’s core mandate and improve the living conditions of residents in the Niger Delta.

    `We are taking actions to reform our operations for optimum performance; and part of the first step was to deploy officers to where they would offer better service.

    “It is important to offer the region and our people better service; improve the quality of our projects; and ensure that we pay for projects and programmes that we implement,” he said. (NAN)

  • NDDC and the politics of regional integration

    NDDC and the politics of regional integration

    When the Niger Delta Masterplan was launched in 2007 by the then outgoing government of President Olusegun Obasanjo, it was meant to fast- track the development of the region, with a view to encouraging regional integration. Ten years after however, the dream appears far from being realised.
    Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC), Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba,(SAN), believes that now is the time to either come up with a new masterplan, or upgrade or review the old one launched by Obasanjo, if the agency must stop being seen as a competitor to the states in the region, in terms provision of infrastructures.
    Ndoma-Egba believes that the current approach to the NDDC’s budget, where states and host communities have no inputs into the policies and programmes of the agency would never bring development to the region, adding that instead it would perpetually put the NDDC in competition with states and local governments, a development, he noted, would be a “monumental distraction.”
    Rather than continue with the avoidable “distraction,” Ndoma-Egba, is advocating for the creation of a regional economy, with” identified drivers” that would be “youth friendly,” saying that “a motivated, educated and empowered youth remain the real resource of any nation, not oil or mineral resources.”
    He further said that an “ill motivated, uneducated and underpowered youth, on the other hand,” would be a “curse and danger to the nation. We therefore have a sacred responsibility to make our youth a real resource and a blessing to our region and country.”
    Drawing inspiration from the Act establishing the NDDC, especially section 7 (1) (b), which mandates the commission, to ‘conceive, plan and implement, in accordance with set rules and regulations, projects and programmes for the sustainable development of the Niger Delta area in the field of transportation including roads, jetties, waterways, health, education, employment industrialization, agriculture and fisheries, housing and urban development, water supply, electricity and telecommunications,’ the NDDC chairman, further said the “Act therefore envisages a diversified but integrated regional economy for the region.”
    And to him, endeavours like ICT, sports, the creative industry; agriculture and manufacturing supported by inter modal transportation, health, and education infrastructure, with adequate power supply, are largely youth friendly, which would help take the youths out of the streets, and engage them in productive ventures, which in the long run would make vandalisation of oil installations less attractive to the youths in the region.
    To him, infrastructure should be such that, it would link the region and facilitate commerce within the Niger Delta, while involving all and every stakeholder in the activities of the Commission, so as to give them sense of belonging, as well as make them own the projects.
    “We must encourage sustainable partnerships with all stakeholders and partners for the overall development, security and peace of the region. We will work to earn the confidence of stakeholders and partners. We do not demand or request their confidence; we will earn it through our honest work and single minded focus. To demonstrate our commitment, to achieve this, this board at its inaugural meeting created its committee on Partnerships for Sustainable Development. This is to underscore our determination to optimize these partnerships”, Ndoma-Egba, added.
    He was also oblivious of the fact that all the lofty objectives the commission set out to achieve would not be possible in an atmosphere of violence. To this end, he appealed to all militant groups in the region to stop violence and vandalisation of oil facilities in the area, saying the region could not be complaining of environmental pollution and at the same time being responsible for the spate of environmental degradation in the area, occasioned by vandalisation of oil installations.
    While insisting that the militant groups’ point of absence of development in the region has long been made, Ndoma-Egba believes strongly that, it was now time for the militant groups too to give peace a chance and allow the region to develop.
    “We need security and peace in the region. I had in my remarks at our inaugural board meeting posited that ‘we cannot complain about environmental pollution and degradation in the region and at the same time engage in activities like pipeline vandalisation and breaches that not only pollute and degrade the environment but also shield those who should bear responsibility for the sorry state of our environment from liability. All of us from the region must take responsibility for peace and security in our own interest and the interest of generations to come. All of us must be committed to the peace, security and prosperity of our region. It is our duty. ‘
    “I will continue to appeal to all militant groups to stop the breaches and vandalisation of oil facilities. Their point has long been made. Now they are inflicting injuries and suffering on themselves and our already hapless and helpless people. They should give us a chance to develop. We will continue to collaborate with the various security agencies to ensure peace in the region. We can only develop in a peaceful atmosphere and environment, “Ndoma-Egba, declared.

  • Revamping NDDC

    Revamping NDDC

    •The new managing director, Nsima Ekere, pushes new template

    Some have looked at it with the cynical eye of a cash cow. The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was conceived by the Federal Government with the enthusiasm of local stakeholders as an agency of restitution.
    But for about 10 years since its birth, it has neither healed wounds nor restored or made amends. It has been seen by politicians as polluted wellspring for mobilisation. Social groups have seen it as a veritable platform of articulating their rage. And outsiders as a source of envy.
    Yet its promise has remained largely elusive. This was reflected in the comments of its new managing director, Nsima Ekere, who looked at the past and concluded that the agency did not work.
    He lamented that the past decade was characterised by a frittering away of resources, leaving it with an embarrassing N1.2 trillion debt burden. Yet, this is an agency that enjoyed a huge tranche of 40 billion dollars for the region that covers oil-producing states that include Cross River, Delta, Ondo, Edo, Rivers, Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
    “With about N1.2 trillion of the contingent liabilities on its balance sheet, NDDC needs to find ways to free funds for urgent development projects and programmes,” said Ekere during the agency’s three-day retreat at Onne in Rivers State. In a paper, titled “Dangerous Beasts and How to Tame Them: The 4-R Strategy”, he hoped to bring new vitality and vision to a body with great potential to bring the backwater peoples of the region to a modern era with infrastructure, medical care and education as well as an atmosphere that inspires entrepreneurs. “There is little evidence to show for the sums spent,” he said bleakly.
    From his strategy to revamp the NDDC to the expected dynamics of its mandate, Ekere has vowed that the management would review over-invoiced projects, determine wrongly procured contracts and revive abandoned projects.
    “We will also recover excess bank charges, recover outstanding IOC contributions and reschedule payment of outstanding statutory contributions of the Federal Government,” said the NDDC chief executive.
    The position and vision of the new NDDC has generated interest, partly because both the managing director Ekere and chairman of the board, Victor Ndoma-Egba, come from a narrative of redemption from the last dispensation. This has boosted their profile as fresh blood who can give the NDDC a new tonic.
    But they have a lot of work to do. The NDDC has been held captive, especially by the political class, who see it as a source to finance political campaigns and for prebendal projects.
    One of the great presences in the Niger Delta has been a wasted environment, turning lush forests, landscapes and maritime areas into modern wildernesses. Water pollution has made the rivers and streams that bustled with fishes, crabs and crayfish into vast black sloshes that have stagnated once subsistence and the Edenic lifestyles of the locals.
    The oil companies have been a great brick wall to progress, and they have plundered the wealth of that region and left little after establishing tokens. The oil majors, because of their complicity with the political and even cultural elites, have left the people abandoned.
    The state governments have not helped the NDDC work with their serial failures, wasting far more money than the NDDC can ever have. During the retreat, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi vowed that the oil companies will be compelled to work according to the constitution. “If you respect the laws of the country from which you are coming,” noted the senator, “I don’t see why you cannot obey the laws of our country.”
    That spirit informed Ekere’s desire to mobilise stakeholders to “catalyse the irreversible reform of the NDDC by enforcing compliance with rules and regulations.”