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  • NDDC…Making progress gradually, steadily

    NDDC…Making progress gradually, steadily

    As part of his strategy to make the people of the Niger Delta region feel the impact of his transformation agenda, President Goodluck Jonathan while inaugurating the 4th Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, directed it to complete the large number of uncompleted projects that litter the landscape of the oil-rich region. He said: “Complete all on-going projects handled by the previous boards before embarking on new ones.”

    Thus, from the onset, Barrister Bassey Dan-Abia, the Managing Director, made it clear that members of the new board were fully conscious of the expectations of the people of the Niger Delta region and as such had resolved to work as a team. “We need to engage ourselves in a soul-searching exercise, so as to chart a new course for the region. There will be no room for squabbles and in-house-in-fighting this time,” he assured

    Speaking in a similar vein, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, the Chairman of the Board, said  the board would spare no effort in advancing the transformation agenda of the Federal Government. “The President charged us to make a remarkable difference in the lives of the people of the Niger Delta. We shall not disappoint him,” he declared.

    The board got into full gear and started commissioning projects that had been completed as well as monitoring all the on-going ones. According to the Executive Director Projects, Engr. Tuoyo Omatsuli, no less than 1, 500 projects spread across the Niger Delta region were ready for commissioning.

    He said that they covered diverse areas such as roads, bridges, electricity, water supply, canalisation, erosion control, shore protection and land reclamation, among others. Of course, attention was also given to human capacity development also got a fair share of attention.

    The fruits of transformation started manifesting with the commissioning of completed projects spread across the length and breadth of the Niger Delta. The new board started by handing over a 522-bed space modern hostel to the authorities of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) in Imo State, on February 5, 2014. The students were over the moon with joy and excitement.

    Senator Ewa-Henshaw, who was performing his first official function along with other members of the NDDC board, said that the commission would step up partnership with tertiary institutions in the Niger Delta region for the advancement of research, teaching and learning, stating that the training of students in science and technology “falls directly in line with the philosophy of the NDDC.”

    Also speaking, the NDDC Chief Executive Officer, Barr.Dan-Abia, said that human capital development was a corner stone of the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan. “One of this administration’s policies for the development of education is the provision of infrastructure across all levels, so as to ease over-crowding of students and increase access to decent accommodation, in line with the millennium development goals,” he said.

    The Vice Chancellor of FUTO, Professor Chigozie Asiabaka, stated that the NDDC had largely fulfilled its mandate of facilitating the rapid, even and sustainable development of the Niger Delta region by providing projects that significantly affect the lives of the people.

    The contributions of the NDDC to the education sector were not limited to infrastructure. According to the commission’s Managing Director, the interventionist agency had in recent times provided “science equipment to our secondary schools; retrained 500 science teachers and 225 principals and vice principals, for capacity enhancement in schools management and administration. It has also provided 3,600 sets of computers to all the polytechnics in the region and awarded 1,021 overseas scholarships for Master degrees and PhD programmes in engineering and sciences, including medicine to children of the nine NDDC states, in the best universities across the world.”

    Meanwhile, as the NDDC’s provision of the right environment for learning in tertiary institutions in the region, was not restricted to FUTO. It also undertook the building of 18 other hostels in universities and polytechnics across the Niger Delta.

    On March 19, 2014, it was the turn of the University of Benin, UNIBEN, to celebrate NDDC’s state-of-the-art hostel. The UNIBEN modern hostel built by the NDDC was commissioned by Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the Governor of Delta State, who doubles as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the NDDC.

    He gave kudos to the NDDC for providing critical infrastructure. He said: “As the Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the NDDC, I am impressed with the efforts of the new board and management. I assure them of the continued support of the governors of the nine Niger Delta states.”

    Eight months later, precisely November 13, Dr. Uduaghan was called upon again to commission another NDDC hostel. This time, students of the Delta State University, Abraka, were the ones dancing and jubilating. The university authorities were not left out in the fanfare. The Deputy Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Chukwuemeka Aloamaka, said: “I must commend the NDDC for coming to the aid of the university by building and furnishing this hall of residence. The imperative of accommodation for students remains a big challenge and the NDDC has done noble in helping us.”

    Mindful of the contributions of youths to the transformation agenda Mr. President, the NDDC had initiated different programmes to build their capacity in the Niger Delta. On Tuesday, March 18, 2014 it organized the First Niger Delta Regional Youth Conference on Ethics and Value Re-Orientation where it articulated a 3-point agenda of capacity building, wealth creation and employment generation for the youths of the region.

    The NDDC Managing Director said: “It is my belief that when we develop and empower young people, we are bound to reduce crime and violence in the region, as well as the concomitance of kidnappings and vandalism of public infrastructure, especially oil installations, which is negatively affecting our economy today.”

    Another key aspect of NDDC youth development scheme focuses on training the youths to gain useful skills with which would get them gainfully employed. The fruits of this strategy are beginning to manifest as statistics made available by the commission indicate that a total of 5,765 youths across the Niger Delta Region have so far benefited from these skill programmes.

    Again, the NDDC is making substantial contributions to the transition from subsistence farming to modern agricultural practices. Currently, the commission has distributed over 100 tractors to ministries of agriculture in the nine Niger Delta states to boost food production. It also donated 27 tractors to the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) group, for delivery to farmer cooperatives in their respective host communities. The OPTS is a working level committee of the major oil companies in partnership with the NDDC.

    The NDDC’s Director, Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr. Godspower Amadi said that mechanised agriculture was a sure way to increase food production and employment generation for the youths. He said that the commission had been running agricultural training programmes in conjunction with Songhai Delta, a reputable capacity building and youth empowerment centre based in Amukpe, Delta State. The NDDC has trained over 6,500 youths in various aspects of agriculture in the centre.

    Of all the development projects which the NDDC has undertaken in the Niger Delta, the one that brings tremendous relief and makes immediate impact on the lives of the rural people is the free Health Care Programme from which 5,000 patients have benefited since the coming of the new board. The free Health Care Missions have been taken to virtually all corners of the Niger Delta to heal the sick, many of whom are suffering from the effects of oil exploration and exploitation in their communities.

    One of such free health programmes held recently at Ndoni, in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government Area of Rivers State, brought showers of blessing for Mrs. Chigozie Isaac, who was delivered of twins, a boy and a girl. Although the boy died at birth, the Ndoni woman was still full of praises to God and the NDDC for making it possible for her to carry her child in her arms after a pregnancy that had overshot the normal 9-month period.

    The commission is also rehabilitating hospitals and health centres as well as building new ones, including two specialist hospitals in Rivers and Cross Rivers states in partnership with private sector service providers.

     

     

  • NDDC: we’re performing our duty

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) said yesterday it was up-to-date in the obligations to its employees and stakeholders.

    The agency also said it had not awarded any contract to First Lady Patience Jonathan.

    In a statement by its spokesman, Ibitoye Abosede, NDDC denied a report by an online medium that it awarded contracts to the First Lady, adding that the resources of the body had not been put at the disposal of politicians.

    The statement said: “Management hereby rebuts such allegations as unfounded, untrue and fabricated to dent the good image and new reputation of the commission.

    “To say that the commission is unable to pay salaries is not only laughable but very misleading and perhaps aimed at dragging the commission into the political battleground.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the commission has never given money to the First Lady or anybody else for the passage of our annual budget; neither has the NDDC ever failed to pay the salaries of its workers as at and when due.

    “The commission, therefore, wishes to appeal to politicians to steer clear of NDDC and allow the commission to focus on its mandate of providing a lasting solution to the socio-economic difficulties in the Niger Delta region.”

  • Project monitoring as catalyst for NDDC

    Project monitoring as catalyst for NDDC

    The first two weeks of 2015 witnessed an unusual flurry of activities in the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. It was not unconnected with the determination of the management team led by the Managing Director, Bassey Dan-Abia to hit the ground running in the New Year. This was evident in its crisscrossing three states of Ondo, Abia and Akwa Ibom, monitoring NDDC projects and insisting on executing them according to specifications.

    The Chief Executive unequivocally stated that the era of the top echelon of the commission sitting in air conditioned offices day-in and day-out was over. He said: “the new NDDC requires that we move out of the office to inspect projects. We cannot stay in the office to develop the Niger Delta. We need to regularly monitor our projects to ensure that our contractors are working according to our specifications. I need to confirm that the papers I sign in the office are true reflections of what is on the ground.”

    The people from the oil-producing area of Ondo State had often lamented that notwithstanding the level of intervention made by NDDC since its creation in 2,000, oil bearing communities in the state have had little to cheer about the commission in terms of major capital projects that would significantly change their lives for good.

    Perhaps, it was the need to assuage the feelings of these people that informed the choice of Ondo State for the commencement of the inspections. The first port of call was the multi billion naira Ugbo-Oghoye Road in Ilaje Local Government Area of the state. The 21.4-kilometre regional road, with 4 bridges, would connect communities that were hitherto inaccessible by road.

    There was excitement in the air as the NDDC officials were taken through the sand-filled portion of the road to the point where the pilling for the first bridge was on-going. The project manager of the contracting firm, Engr. Sciandrello Emmanuel was happy to announce that Barr Dan-Abia was the first NDDC chief executive to visit the project since they mobilized to the site in 2011.

    Barr Dan-Abia, observed that the project was strategic and regional because it would link up with the Koko-Oghoye Road in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State. He said that the communities should thank President Goodluck Jonathan for making it possible for the commission to undertake such a gigantic project.

    The NDDC chief executive did not fail to underscore the enormous challenges posed by the deltaic environment, prompting him to call on other Nigerians to show more understanding of what it takes to develop the Niger Delta. He said: “This Ilaje area is a typical Niger Delta terrain and I wish other Nigerians will appreciate the peculiar problems we encounter in the region. With this kind of setting, people should not be surprised that the cost of executing projects is usually high. However, we look forward to driving on this road to Ayetoro in no distant time.”

    Barr. Dan-Abia commended the people of Ilaje LGA for their patience and understanding, especially for providing the enabling environment for the contractors to do their work, which he observed was progressing satisfactorily.

    On hand to throw light on the construction work was Mr. Augustus Owowa, the project consultant, who gave graphic details of what it took to cut through virgin swamp land. “We have to fill up to 4 metres with sharp sand to stabilize the soil. Here we are working on the first bridge and we have drilled 63 metres deep, yet we are still coming up with clay soil. Such challenges will invariably lead to variations in the design,” he said.

    If the Ugbo-Oghoye road is filling the swamps with hope and anticipation, the 10.5-kilometre Igbokoda-Orere Ara road is a dream already realized. The 7.3-metre-wide asphalted road with side drains, has already opened up new areas for development as the road has been completed. The joy and excitement of the people was written all over their faces.  Barr. Benson Amuwa, the representative of Ondo State on the NDDC board was not an exception. He conveyed the satisfaction of the people for the road which has linked Igbokoda, the commercial nerve centre of Ilaje, to Orere Ara and other neighbouring communities.

    He further said that several other communities in the area were looking forward to the commencement of the second phase of the project which would take the road to Orere Ara town and beyond and thus give the people the full value of the first segment that had been completed.

    Barr. Amuwa also led the inspection of the 3-kilometre Ugbonla township roads also in Ilaje LGA. He said that the road, laid with interlocking stones had brought life back to the town, The Ugbonla Monarch, Oba Henry Ogunfeyimi, expressed delight that the NDDC had raised the status of Ugbonla and made it to stand out as far as basic infrastructure was concerned. He said he was particularly impressed by the quality of the 3-kilometre Ugbonla township road which he said had become a model for other rural communities.

    “We thank the NDDC for giving us the necessary amenities that are now attracting our people to come back home. We are particularly grateful for the internal roads and the solar-powered street lights,” the Oba said.

    In Akwa Ibom State, the NDDC team inspected several projects which included roads in Etinam, Ibiono and Itu local government areas. At the 15-kilometre Ikot Isong-Ikot Akpabio-Edemekpo-Ndoneyo Road, Barr.Dan-Abia expressed satisfaction with the quality of work on the completed section but regretted that the road was being threatened by erosion. He said that a ravine that has developed at a point along the road was not anticipated and was not factored into the design. He promised that appropriate action would be taken to protect the road from the threatening erosion.

    The NDDC boss remarked that the Akwa Ibom State Government had raised the bar in terms of quality roads. “The NDDC cannot afford to do anything less. Although we are not competing with the state government, we will push our contractors to march the Akwa Ibom standards,” he said.

    At the 10.1-kilometre Ididep-Ikot Odiong-Ikot Ibiono Road and bridge project, Barr. Dan-Abia said that by overcoming the challenges of hills and valleys along the road, the NDDC had demonstrated its capacity as an interventionist agency. He added: “The road traverses several communities in Ibiono which is one of the largest local government areas in Akwa Ibom State. Again, the road links up to the busy Calabar-Itu Road.”

    The NDDC team also inspected the 12.4-kilometre Oko Ita-Itu-Mbak Atai-Oku Iboku Road, in Itu Local Government Area. The project consultant, Engr. Eyo Peters, said in spite of the challenges of delays in the payment of compensation to some of the property owners along the road, all other things were in place to facilitate the completion of the road very soon.

    In Abia State, the team visited the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. There, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Henry Edeoga, appealed to the NDDC management to speed up action on the 522-bed modern hostel it is building for the university.

    He said that the university had expected that the hostel would be ready for hand over late last year and had, therefore, admitted 6,000 students on the assumption that they would be fully accommodated. “The students have been on my neck over the accommodation problem on campus. They even threatened to pack into the hostel even as the remaining work on the building is going on,” the VC said.

    The Vice Chancellor thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for directing the NDDC to urgently complete on-going projects before embarking on new ones, noting that the university hostel projects deserved to be given priority. He also gave kudos to the NDDC Managing Director for coming personally to supervise the project to facilitate its completion in the shortest possible time.

    Dan-Abia assured the Vice Chancellor that the contractor would be funded adequately to ensure that the work on the hostel was completed as quickly as possible, noting that the commission had completed and handed over similar hostels in Imo State University, Federal University of Science and Technology, Owerri, University of Benin and the Delta State University, Abraka. “The university hostel projects are very dear to us,” the MD said.

    The Secretary to the Abia State Government, Prof. Nkpa Agu Nkpa, commended the NDDC for helping to address the accommodation challenges facing many universities in the Niger Delta. He said that he was directed by the state governor, Chief Theodore Orji, to join the VC in appealing to the NDDC to quicken the pace of work at the university hostel in Umudike as the only university of agriculture in the region.

    The NDDC inspection team had earlier visited similar hostel projects at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital which was virtually ready for commissioning, as well as the one at the permanent site of the University of Uyo which has also reached an advanced stage.

     

     

  • Group hails NDDC chief Dan-Abia

    The National Convener of Journalists-for-Humanity, Mr. Nkeneke Efo, has praised the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Barrister Bassey Dan-Abia, for being focused and committed to his job.

    In a release in Uyo, Efo said Dan-Abia’s NDDC intervened in roads repairs and rehabilitation and made the roads passable during the Christmas season.

    “Of particular note is the spoilt section of the Abak-Ikot Abasi Road which it awarded to Messrs Base Engineering. The place was so bad that commuters had to divert to the East-West Road through Mkpat Enin which was also bad but this changed as the NDDC worked on the road just before Christmas. We commend the intervention of the Managing Director who has shown that he is in the Commission to work and not for show.”

    Efo also said the NDDC under Barrister Dan-Abia is embarking on several other road projects, some of which was abandoned by his predecessors.

    “In giving Barrister Dan-Abia kudos, I also appreciate a focused Chairman of the Commission, Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw, who is always on the move to make sure the core reason for the creation of NDDC is achieved.”

    He said if Dan-Abia maintains his focus, the Commission will be one of the greatest performance indices of the federal government in due time.

    The National Convener further advised government agencies to take a cue from the Barrister Dan-Abia led NDDC by putting in their best for the common man whom they were placed in the position to protect.

     

  • NDDC earmarks N1bn loan scheme for farmers

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on Wednesday said it had earmarked N1 billion “revolving” loan for farmers in the Niger Delta region.

    This is contained in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by the commission’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr Iditoye Abosede.

    According to the statement, the loan scheme is in partnership with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA).

    The statement quoted the commission’s Managing Director, Mr Bassey Dan-Abia, as saying that the scheme would boost agricultural activities and production in the area.

    “NDDC is fully committed towards boosting agricultural production to becoming a reliable economic base for the country.

    “We are also partnering with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to integrate rural dwellers into agricultural entrepreneurship,’’ it said.

    The statement said the commission on Monday inaugurated a two-week Agricultural Entrepreneurial Training for farmers at Vika farms in Uyo, Akwa Ibom.

    It said the commission had recently distributed 100 tractors to various ministries of agriculture and corporate societies in nine Niger Delta states to boost food production and reduce unemployment.

    According to the statement, the 180 tons daily rice processing plant at Elele Alimini in Rivers would soon be revived through a private sector partnership arrangement.

    It said that the Federal Government’s various agriculture programmes had led to the transformation witnessed in the sector and had set the stage for Nigerians to go back to farms.

  • Agriculture the only way forward, says NDDC’s MD

    Agriculture the only way forward, says NDDC’s MD

    Against the backdrop of dwindling revenue from crude oil, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Bassey Dan-Abia, has said agriculture is the way forward.

    He spoke on Monday at the launch of a two-week Agricultural Entrepreneurial Training of Farmers at the Vika Farms in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

    Addressing the trainees drawn from the nine states of the Niger Delta, Dan-Abia said the commission had always recognised agriculture as the way forward for Nigeria. He noted that the Federal Government did not wait for the crash in the price of crude oil before coming up with various agricultural programmes, which had set the stage for Nigerians to go back to the farms.

  • Ondo monarch hails NDDC

    Ondo monarch hails NDDC

    The monarch of Ugbonla in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba Henry Ogunfeyimi, has praised the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for “bringing life back” to his community.

    He spoke when the NDDC Managing Director, Bassey Dan-Abia, visited his palace at the weekend.

    The monarch said the NDDC had raised Ugbonla’s status and made it stand out as far as basic infrastructure was concerned.

    Ogunfeyimi said he was particularly impressed by the quality of the three-kilometre Ugbonla township road, which he said had become a model for other rural communities.

    “We thank the NDDC for giving us the necessary amenities that are now attracting our people to come back home. We are particularly grateful for the internal roads and the solar-powered street lights,” the monarch said.

    Dan-Abia told the monarch that he was on an inspection tour of the commission’s projects in Ilaje Local Government Area in compliance with a presidential directive.

  • NDDC projects in Ondo

    NDDC projects in Ondo

    Oil producing communities in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State now have cause to smile as work on the multi-billion naira Ugbo-Oghoye Road has been stepped up to ensure that it is completed on schedule.

    The 21.4-kilometre regional road with four bridges, being built by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will connect various riverine communities by road.

    Speaking during an inspection tour, NDDC’s Managing Director Bassey Dan-Abia observed that the project was very strategic as it would link up with the Koko-Oghoye Road taking off from Koko in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State.

    The NDDC’s chief executive noted that the enormous challenges posed by the swampy environment and appealed for more understanding for the delay in executing road projects in most parts of the Niger Delta.

    He said: “This Ilaje area is a typical Niger Delta terrain and I wish other Nigerians will appreciate the peculiar problems we encounter in the region. With this kind of setting, people should not be surprised that the cost of executing projects is usually huge. However, we look forward to driving on this road to Ayetoro in no distant time.”

    Dan-Abia praised the people of Ilaje for their patience and understanding, especially for providing the enabling environment for the contractors to work.

  • NDDC’ll be safe, secure under Buhari, says ex-Board member

    NDDC’ll be safe, secure under Buhari, says ex-Board member

    former representative of Ondo State on the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Benson Enikuomehin, has faulted insinuations that the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) would scrap the Commission if elected next month.

    Enikuomehin, who is a chieftain of the APC in the Sunshine State, described those behind the rumours  as enemies of the nation.

    Besides, another community leader from the oil producing areas of the state, Claudius Omogbemi said Buhari’s antecedents in the petroleum sector had exposed him to the importance and relevance of the NDDC to the South and Nigeria.

    The duo said Buhari’s experience as a former Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) in 1995 Chairman, a Federal Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Resources in 1977and Chairman, Nigeria National Petroleum Commission (NNPC) in 1975 and 1995 would assist him to restructure and sustain the Commission.

    Enikuomehin and Omogbemi however condemned what they called the domination of the Commission by mediocre, who have bastardised the agency to the detriment of the people and its objectives.

    According to them, the alleged plot by Buhari to scrap the commission was politically motivated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to discredit the APC presidential candidate and block his victory in the Niger Delta at the presidential election.

    They said the existence of the NDDC was the only consolation people in the region have on the devastation of their domain.

    They expressed the hope that Buhari would apply the fund accruable to the Commission judiciously to develop the region and empower the people physically and economically.

    The duo cautioned members of President Goodluck Jonathan campaign organisation to refrain from the campaign of calumny against the opposition, urging them to base their campaign on issues and avoid attacks of individuals.

    Enikuomehin specifically advised Buhari to overhaul the commission and inject new blood into it, rather than scrapping it as doing so will do more harm to the people in the region.

  • Our roads have no maintenance contracts, says NDDC

    Our roads have no maintenance contracts, says NDDC

    Member representing Cross River State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr. Paul Adah, has said the commission does not make provisions for maintenance of roads it has executed.

    Adah said to that extent, the commission ensures that the qualities of road constructed under its supervision are made to be durable to stand the test of time.

    He said this at Utugwang in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State during the formal unveiling one of the road projects constructed by the commission in the south, central and northern senatorial districts.

    The road projects, which span over 12 kilometres, include the Utugwang-HRH Agba-Ukpirinyi road (1.25km), St Theresa-Kakum road (1.5km) Ukwel-Obudu-Bebuagba (1.5km), Ashikem-Ufono-Bebuastwan road (2km), Bebuabong-Kakum village square road (1.5km) and Babuagba-Katung road (1.5km).

    The commission also unveiled the Calabar Municipal solar power light project in State Housing Estate, Obubra solar power street light, Etung Comprehensive Health Centre in Okoroba village, Yala solar power street light, Oba village solar power water project of 25 gallon capacity, among others.

    According to Adah, the roads can be used for over 20 years without any maintenance due to the thickness of the asphalt and quality of work done.