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Tag: NDDC

  • As doctors’ strike bites, NDDC’s health mission rescues the sick

    As doctors’ strike bites, NDDC’s health mission rescues the sick

    As doctors’ strike continues to bite, residents of  communities in the Niger Delta are being rescued by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from dire health challenges,  writes WALE AJETUNMOBI

    As the nation-wide strike embarked upon by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) casts an ominous shadow over a sick medical delivery system, one woman was writhing in labour pains in a health facility deep in the heartland of the Ibibios. The travails of Mrs. Iniobong Fidelix, who hails from Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, would have ended in death, were  it not for a providential free health mission in a nearby local government area.

    Iniobong’s pregnancy was at its turbulent peak and she was taken to the hospital in Ikono. Unfortunately, there was no doctor at the hospital to attend to her because they were on strike. The nurses could not do much as Iniobong was having complications and needed to be operated upon. The saving grace for this poor woman and her unborn baby was the Free Health Care Medical Programme organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in conjunction with Global Hands Medicare Foundation, at the Ekpene Obo Cottage Hospital in Esit Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

    It was a happy and proud Dr. Katherine Ntekim, the director of the foundation running the NDDC-sponsored free medical programme that told the story of the Ikono woman who was saved at the nick of time. According to her, Iniobong was lucky to have been rushed to the venue of the medical intervention in time to save her live and that of her baby. “She was rushed in for an emergency caesarian section from a general hospital where doctors’ strike had paralyzed healthcare delivery to this place where we saved her and her new-born baby.”

    She gave kudos to the NDDC for making it possible for her organisation to assemble medical experts in various specialisations to attend to the needs of people who may not have had access to such highly qualified medical personnel. According to the medical director, the week-long programme covered various aspects of medicare.

    The popular Free Health Care Medical Programme, which covers different communities in the Niger Delta region, as part of NDDC’s commitment to bring qualitative healthcare delivery service to the door-steps of the people of the region, was flagged off simultaneously in Abia and Akwa Ibom states on July 9.

    Speaking at the Ekpene Obo Cottage Hospital, the NDDC Managing Director, Bassey Dan-Abia, said the programme was meant to bring healthcare to the door-steps of rural dwellers. The NDDC boss, who was represented by Etim Inyang Jnr, the Akwa Ibom State representative on the board of the commission, said that no less than 900,000 people have benefited from its free medical services since the programme started 14 years ago. He stated that the commission was determined to make a difference in the health sector through the engagement of relevant partners such as Global Hand Medicare Foundation, Goldspin Healthcare, Total Health-Minders Foundation and others.

    He said: “It is our belief that after this programme, the people of Esit Eket will say farewell to all the endemic health problems that have long plagued them. It is expedient to mention here that the health partners are expected to hand over substantial quantities of efficacious drugs to the hospital management for the treatment of those who had some major operations.”

    The NDDC Deputy Director for Education, Health and Social Services, Dr. Solomon Ita, said the goal of the commission was to make medical services accessible to the people of the Niger Delta, especially those who live in the rural areas.  He noted that the commission had always placed a high premium on healthcare delivery, adding that it had extended health facilities and services to many communities across the region.

    According to Dr Ita, of all the development programmes which the NDDC had undertaken in the Niger Delta, the one that brought tremendous relief and made immediate impact on the lives of the rural people was the free health care programme.

    “The free health missions have gone round virtually all corners of the Niger Delta, healing the sick and giving hope to the medically challenged,” he said.

    The NDDC director explained that the free health care programme was a combination of many activities, which included carrying out of HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, healthcare promotion and malaria roll-back campaign.

    “The comprehensive health missions provide all forms of medical services, ranging from general consultation, laboratory services, general and gynaecological surgeries, as well as eye and dental services. Apart from the free medical missions, the NDDC has committed substantial resources to providing physical infrastructure in the health sector across the Niger Delta,” he said.

    The Chairman of Esit Eket Local Government Area, Ibanga Itang, praised the NDDC for bringing the free medical programme to his locality, noting that the council was always ready to collaborate with agencies and organisations that provide needed services to the rural areas. He said that the mobile health care delivery system was a practical way of reaching the sick in the rural communities. “This effort is very well appreciated as can be seen from the huge number of people that have come to benefit from the free health care. The high demand for the health care services is understandable, especially as doctors in our public hospitals are on strike,” he said.

    Mr. Anieffiok Gabriel, who brought a relative for treatment, said he was delighted that the free healthcare programme came to Ekpene Obo at a time he was almost giving up hope on how to save his aunty who was very sick but could not find money to go for medical treatment. “We are glad the NDDC has come to our rescue,” he said.

    Anieffiok is one out of many poor people in the remote communities of the Niger Delta who have been rescued through the intervention of the NDDC’s free medical missions. For one week, the Ekpene Obo Cottage Hospital was a beehive of activities as the sick and their caring relatives thronged the place for medical attention.

    The free health programme is still moving from one community to the other in all the 9 states covered by the NDDC.

     

     

  • NDDC’s 4,000 littering

    The verb, ‘litter’, has over a dozen meanings, but Hardball is driven under this piece by just two. The first is to give birth, used particularly in cases of animals, while the second meaning is to drop thrash without properly disposing of it. It is this second take that struck Hardball when it was learnt that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) admitted to having about 4,000 uncompleted projects in its book. This piece of information was let out as the commission defended its N322 billion budget for 2014 at the National Assembly.

    It is common knowledge that the entire country is a littering of uncompleted projects –  including the national headquarter building of the ruling PDP, which stands like an ugly curse somewhere in Abuja – but that one agency of government could bear such incubus of leftover jobs is beyond believe. Could it be possible that the management of NDDC was just posturing and speaking off the cuff to win the sympathy of the legislators and also win a larger chunk of the national cake? Is it possible that the NDDC chaps could not fathom the enormity and magnitude of the words they issued forth to the legislators?

    NDDC was founded 14 years ago as a body to mediate between the government and the much-deprived people of the oil-rich Niger Delta. It was founded after a few other bodies like it had floundered. Both the federal government and the international oil companies had become so irresponsible and indeed derelict in their relationship with the communities that ‘lay’ Nigeria’s golden egg so to speak that a specialised agency had to be created to pool funds and intervene. But see the result we have 14 years after – 4,000 abandoned projects, a littering of dirt on the landscape of the Niger Delta!

    Bereft of  further ideas about how to tackle what is actually a simple problem, the federal government, in another fit of insouciance, set up another body, a comparative and competing body, the Ministry of Niger Delta, to rescue the thoroughly damaged creeks that spew Nigeria’s very life-blood – crude oil. If you ever doubted that Nigeria was a standing monolith of corruption, the NDDC is the best proof you need. How and why else could a government agency cause even more environmental damage to a region it was set up to rescue?

    To underscore how well the monster has become us, you would think the legislators would fulminate or even faint upon being so casually assaulted with the 4,000 litter caper, but it was water on the back of a big, fat pumpkin; it just runs to the ground. The legislators, masters of the dark game of corruption themselves, just took it in their dirty strides. Our legislators are dead people; or let’s be gracious and say they are living dead to corruption. They can’t see it any more; they can’t hear it and they can’t feel it.

    If only they had any breath in them they would have instantly gone raving mad and called for an enquiry into the activities of NDDC in the last 14 years. In a country that is still living, where the Richter scale of corruption still ticks, this 4,000 projects expose would have started a malevolent volcanic eruption that would have blown all scales to smithereens. This is indeed, the land of the dead.

     

  • NDDC levy not applicable to NLNG

    NDDC levy not applicable to NLNG

    THE Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited(NLNG) has said it is not affected by the three percent Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) levy.

    The company was reacting to a demonstration by the Niger Delta Youth Stakeholders Forum over the company’s alleged refusal to pay the levy.

    The NLNG statement reads: “For the avoidance of doubt, this levy is inapplicable to NLNG, a position which has the backing of decisions of the entire spectrum of courts in Nigeria, culminating in a Supreme Court ruling delivered inOctober 2011.

    “Following an initial suit filed by the NDDC, the Federal High Court on July 11, 2007 delivered judgement stating that NLNG was not liable to pay the NDDC levy.

    “NDDC then proceeded to challenge the High Court ruling at the Court of Appeal. The Appellate Court also ruled in NLNG’s favour. NDDC appealed further to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court subsequently dismissed NDDC’s appeal.The basis of the judicial determination of these courts in favour of  NLNG is that the Company is not subject to the NDDC levy, taking into account the correct interpretation of the provisions of the NDDC Act 2000.

    “It is instructive to note that when the representatives of the demonstrators were invited into a meeting with NLNG Management and presented with this fact, they claimed to be unaware of it. They then immediately undertook to go back and inform the crowd of demonstrators numbering about 40.  The protesters dispersed shortly afterwards. “

     

     

    “As has been the case since inception, NLNG continues to champion compliance and meet all its applicable tax obligations including Education Tax, Value Added Tax, Personal Income Tax, Withholding Tax, Tenement Rates etc, as accruable to Federal, State and Local Governments.”

     

  • NLNG restates exemption from NDDC levy

    NLNG restates exemption from NDDC levy

    The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) has reiterated its exemption from payment of the three per cent Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) levy by the NLNG Act of 2004. It was further backed by a 2011 Supreme Court ruling.

    The NLNG was reacting to a report about a demonstration by youths purported to be affiliated to a body that called itself the Niger Delta Youth Stakeholders Forum, over the company’s alleged refusal to pay the three percent NDDC levy.

    Its  General Manager, External Relations, Kudo Eresia-Eke, said: “Nigeria LNG Limited’s attention has been drawn to recent news report about a demonstration by youths purported to be affiliated to a body calling itself Niger Delta Youth Stakeholders Forum, over the company’s alleged refusal to pay a three percent Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) levy.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, NLNG was granted exemption from payment of this levy by the NLNG Act of 2004, a position which has the backing of a Supreme Court ruling delivered as early as 2011. Following an initial suit filed by the NDDC, the Federal High Court on July 11, 2007 delivered judgement stating that NLNG was not liable to pay the NDDC levy.

    “NDDC then proceeded to challenge the High Court ruling at the Court of Appeal. The Appellate Court also ruled in NLNG’s favour. NDDC appealed further to the Supreme Court in October 2011. The Supreme Court subsequently dismissed NDDC’s appeal, ruling that NLNG is legally exempted from paying the NDDC levy in accordance with the provisions of the NLNG Act.

    It is instructive to note that when the representatives of the demonstrators were invited into a meeting with NLNG management and presented with this fact, they claimed to be unaware of it. They then immediately undertook to go back and inform the crowd of demonstrators numbering about 40.  The protesters dispersed shortly afterwards.

  • Youths shut down Benin Airport

    Youths shut down Benin Airport

    Activities at the Benin Airport were paralysed yesterday when youths protested the non-appointment of an Edo State representative into the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the NDDC last December but stalled the appointment of the state’s nominee, Henry Okhuarobo, because of alleged political interest.

    The youths locked the gates leading to the airport. Policemen used tear gas to disperse the protesters and forced the gates open.

    The protesters later blocked the Airport Road and caused heavy vehicular traffic.

    Their leader, John Osazuwa, said their protest followed the expiration of a 46-day ultimatum issued to the Presidency.

    Osazuwa said they were not concerned about who was appointed commissioner.

    He said they would shut oil wells in the state, if the commissioner was not appointed.

    “This state has been without a NDDC commissioner for too long. Last time, we gave them 46 days. The sealing of the airport is the only way to get the President to answer us.

    “The police cannot intimidate us because they are fully aware that we are fighting for our right.”

  • Mark hails NDDC projects

    Mark hails NDDC projects

    Senate President David Mark has praised the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for delivering projects which have direct impact on communities in the region.

    Mark gave the endorsement at the inauguration of the 1.5-kilometre Ndoma-Egba Road and erosion control works executed by the NDDC in Ikom, Cross River State.

    The Senate President praised the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, for collaborating with the NDDC to bring development to his people.

    “The cooperation between the NDDC and the Senate Leader is the kind of understanding that we ask for from the people of the various communities, because without such synergy, projects such as this will not have come on stream,” he said.

    Mark noted that development projects were sometimes hampered when communities come up with unnecessary demands on government agencies or contractors.

    NDDC Managing Director Bassey Dan-Abia thanked Mark for finding time to inaugurate the road and erosion control project, as well as inspecting the Specialist Hospital being built by the NDDC in Ikom.

  • NDDC begins stakeholders’ meetings

    NDDC begins stakeholders’ meetings

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has started a series of consultative stakeholders’ meetings in nine states.

    The meetings, which started last week in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, have moved to Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    The Managing Director, Bassey Dan-Abia, said the meetings were to engage and consult with stakeholders to communicate to them the resolve of the commission.

    Dan-Abia, who was represented by Rivers State representative Ephraim Etete, said the meetings will provide platforms for the stakeholders to agree on the best ways to address development challenges in the Niger Delta.

    “We have started the process of redefining our vision, mission, priorities and responsibilities in a manner that will engender confidence, involvement and active support from stakeholders,” he said.

     

  • ‘Appoint Edo NDDC commissioner’

    ‘Appoint Edo NDDC commissioner’

    Edo State House of Assembly lawmakers have expressed their disappointment in President Goodluck Jonathan’s delay in the appointment of a state commissioner on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The new NDDC board was inaugurated last December but the nominee from Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Henry Okhuarobo, was not approved due to political manouvering.

    Ms Elisabeth Ativie, who moved the motion under matters of urgent public importance, said several NDDC projects have been abandoned.

    She named a water project at her village that has been stalled due to non-appointment of a commissioner.

    “As we speak, eight other  states that make up NDDC have representatives but our state has been left out.

    “Most NDDC projects in this state have been abandoned.

    “We cannot fold our hands and watch this continue. The people have been subjected to undue hardship”

    Majority Leader Philip Shaibu said it was unfortunate that the state was yet to get a representative on the NDDC board.

    The lawmakers passed a resolution calling on the President to appoint Edo Commissioner into the NDDC.

     

  • NDDC’s kind gesture

    NDDC’s kind gesture

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has donated a 174-room hostel to the University of Benin (UNIBEN) to ease accommodation problem. EDDY UWOGHIREN (200-Level Medicine) and EZEKIEL EFEOBHOKHAN (300-Level Pharmacy) report.

    The stretch from the main gate of the Ugbowo Campus of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) to the hostel area was plastered with posters and banners. On them were inscriptions, such as “Thank you NDDC” and “UNIBEN welcomes Delta State governor”.

    Welcome to the inauguration of the 696-bed space hostel donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    Security was tight. The institution’s security personnel had a hectic time controlling traffic on the campus.

    The students turned the occasion into a carnival with glamorous dance troupes, colourful masqueraders and drummers. They said they now have the opportunity of living in a world-class hostel with modern facilities befitting an Ivory Tower.

    The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Osayuki Oshodin, in smiles, said: “We are grateful to the NDDC for this project.” The VC, who noted that the commission recently donated electricity transformers and street lights to the school, described the NDDC as a development partner.

    Prof Oshodin appealed to other government agencies and private organisations to help the school to rebuild some dilapidated structures, NDDC, he said, had shown “good example” on how higher institutions could be lifted to promote learning.

    The Pro-Chancellor, Senator Effiong Wilson-Bob, appealed to the commission to assist the university renovate its old hostels, noting that such move could improve students’ welfare. With the delivery of the 696-bed space hall, Senator Wilson-Bob said the NDDC had fulfilled part of its mandate to promote the development of education in the Niger Delta.

    He said: “Development of education must be a collective effort of all stakeholders and as such, providing accommodation should also be a joint effort of all. This is what the NDDC has demonstrated with the construction of a modern hostel to the University of Benin.”

    While inaugurating the building, Chairman of the NDDC Advisory Council and Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan said he was impressed with the activities of the commission, promising to support it to get more funds to bring development to the oil-rich region.

    He said: “As the chairman of the advisory council of the NDDC, I am impressed with the efforts of the new board and management. I assure the commission of support of the governors in Niger Delta states.”

    Advising students to shun vices that may tarnish the image of the university, Uduaghan said: “I have not seen anybody who belongs to a cult group that made First Class in the university. I urge you to focus on your studies and make good grades.”

    NDDC Governing Board, chairman, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw said the commission brought its top management staff to inaugurate the hostel because of its commitment to the future of students of the university. “We are pleased to be in the University of Benin today to hand over this project to the students. This project is the second of these prototype hostel projects we are commissioning within our 100 days in office,” he said.

    The construction of the modern hostel was in line with the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government to develop human capital by improving access to quality education across the Niger Delta.

    The President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), Osasere Osifo, said: “The NDDC has given us a wonderful edifice; it is not only the newest, it is also the best hostel on campus today.”

    The Vice President, Margret Odia, who ntoed that accommodation had been a challenge in the university. “We appreciate the NDDC for building us a modern hostel and I believe female students would have spaces in the new hostel.”

    Francis Uko, president of the National Association of Akwa Ibom State Students, said more students would relocate to the school, with more bed spaces being provided by the NDCC. “The inadequate accommodation forced many students to live off-campus and sometimes fall prey to the menace of cultism, which is taking its toll in off-campus halls. With the NDDC hostel, more of our students will now be accommodated within the university premises where they will feel secure,” he said.

    An excited 300-Level student, Vitus Ohakosin, said: “My joy today knows no bounds; NDDC has come to our rescue.”

    The 174- room hostel is fitted with amenities such as a water tank connected to, a solar-water treatment plant, which would provide water constantly to all rooms. It also has spaces for buttery and administrative offices, cybercafé, games rooms and specially-fitted rooms for physically challenged students.

     

     

     

  • N500b NDDC funds: Niger Delta monarchs sue Fed Govt

    N500b NDDC funds: Niger Delta monarchs sue Fed Govt

    Monarchs in the Niger Delta have asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the Federal Government to release the N500billion statutorily allocated for the development of the area.

    In a suit they filed for themselves and on behalf of the communities, the monarchs said the money was part of the statutory allocation to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2001 and 2009, which had been withheld by the Federal Government since the tenure of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    The National Executive Chairman of the 21 traditional rulers, Eze Raphael Akuwueze, acting on the platform of the Traditional Rulers of the Oil Mineral Producing Communities of Nigeria (TROMPCON), said their suit was informed by the government’s refusal to release funds meant for the infrastructural development of their communities.

    He said: “It has become public knowledge that since the establishment of the commission in 2001 till date, there have been violations of the funding provisions of the Act by the various contributors to the fund.

    “Not all the oil and gas producing and processing companies have complied with the provisions of the Act. Of great worry to us is the failure of the Federal Government to comply with the funding provisions as stipulated in the Act. We cannot be under democratic rule and rule of law is jettisoned overboard.

    “Since 2011, we have been in court to compel compliance by the Federal Government with the funding provisions of the Act.

    “We appeal to our subjects to remain calm as we seek the only civilised option in this our collective quest for social, economic and environmental justice for the oil bearing communities in Nigeria.”

    They want an order directing the AGF, Finance Minister and the Ministry of Finance to remit the amount being the difference between the statutorily generated 15 per cent total amount from the Federation Account, to NDDC.

    Defendants in the suit include the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Minister of Finance, the Finance Ministry and NDDC. The planned hearing of the case was stalled yesterday because the court did not sit.