The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NDDC

  • Group advises Jonathan on NDDC appointments

    A group, Cross River State Niger Delta Council (CRONDEC), has called on President Goodluck Jonathan not to bow to pressure from any governor in appointing the Managing Director and board members of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    President of the group, Etim Okon said in Calabar, “We wish to advise Mr President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan not to listen to those governors who always want things their own way. Why should the governors feel they can nominate ministers, board chairmen and just to mention but a few for the president all the time.

    “Our concern is as it affects the Niger Delta Development Commission to nominate state representatives and at the same time nominate the Managing Director and chairman of the commission which is a prerogative of Mr President. We strongly appeal on Mr President not to bow to any pressure from the governors whose mission is to continue to use politicians to siphon funds from the commission.

    “We have seen this happen since the inception of the NDDC and we strongly call on Mr President to put a stop to this ugly trend. It is no longer a secret that state jobs from the commission is usually placed before the governors who then decide who takes what.

    “They have squeezed all local governments in the region by taking virtually all their funds.

    “We will resist any attempt from them to continue with this fraud in NDDC. The commission was set up to develop the region and the Poor masses and not the governors.

    “We therefore appeal to Mr President to appoint technocrats to head the commission and not people who will be loyal to only the governors at the detriment of the region. We will not suggest who to be appointed. He should search for people with clean records and integrity to deliver. We want to see a complete departure from the past.”

     

  • Communities rue abandoned road project

    The people of Etomi and Abgokim communities in Etung Local Government Areas of Cross River State have decried the abandonment of the construction of the 27km road linking both of them.

    Some of the community members who were piqued by about the development stormed the palace of the clan head of Etomi community calling on relevant authorities to intervene urgently in the situation.

    They lamented that due to the deplorable condition as a result of the abandonment the people have faced hardships.

    “We wonder why they would abandon the road without consideration for the people, whereas they have been paid to carry out this job,” one, of them said.

    Another resident of the area a commercial motorcyclist, Chijioke Cletus said, “Since wey I started okada I don fall for this road tire. Last week we don carry two people go bury. I de vex. Don’t know if they chop the money or government no send money. I de beg make dem change copnay. We that cannot live in the city at least if we don’t have light let them give us road.

    Raphael Akpan another protester said, “Master we don suffer well well for this road tire. Uptil now. Everywhere is gallop, and water. The people just came here and dig gutter and left the road. I don’t know whether it is the gutter we are going to ply or the road. When we told them them no answer us. They are no longer working, they left. Government should do something.”

    Investigations revealed the road was awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to a contractor and was expected to have been completed by March this year.

    The coordinator of Rebuild Nigeria Initiative, a nongovernmental organization, Mr Castro Ezama said it was regrettable that the contractor who had received mobilization could abandon the project thereby causing problems for the community members and other road users.

    He charged the NDDC to order the contractor to return to site or refund the amount paid to him for another to take over the project.

     

     

  • Agric students visit NDDC

    A delegation of Nigerian Association of Agricultural Students (NAAS), University of Port Harcourt chapter has paid a courtesy visit to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The team led by its president, Evans Okharu, visited the commission’s Director of agriculture Dr Godspower Amadi, in his office in Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital.

    Okharu briefed the director on the achievements of the association under his leadership which include: orientation of Year One students in the Faculty of Agriculture; and organising students’-lecturers forum to boost their relationship for effective learning, among other programmes.

    He said a major challenge faced by NAAS is loss of interests among youths towards agriculture. He said NAAS example shows that some students who were offered admissions to study-agriculture-related programmes often switch over to other faculties in years ahead.

    Okharu, however, said his leadership is poised to reverse the situation through some enlightenment programmes.

    “Under my administration, we intend to organise sensitisation and awareness campaigns about agriculture like an agricultural summit. We also plan to embark on excursions with agric students to expose them to agricultural practices and success, amongst other programmes. We appeal for partnership and support of the NDDC to enable us succeed,” he said.

    In his response, Amadi praised NAAS’ vision, urging them to make capacity, attitude and their courage watchword.

    Pledging the commission’s support, Amadi implored NAAS members to encourage their colleagues on the prospect of their careers. He mentioned former president Olusegun Obasanjo, a successful farmer, as a shining example.

     

  • NDDC trains youths, women

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) says it has empowered over 1000 youths and women in Cross River by training them in various vocational skills.

    The Commissioner representing the state in NDDC, Mr Dominic Edem, disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Calabar.

    Edem spoke through his Special Adviser on Special Projects, Mr Asuquo Effiong.

    He said that the beneficiaries were trained in the last two years in carpentry, barbing, dyeing, tailoring, hair dressing and weaving.

    He said that NDDC also sponsored the training of some people at the Maritime Academy Oron and skills acquisition programmes, organised by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

    According to him, majority of the beneficiaries, especially those that did not have formal education, were drawn from the rural communities.

    “We encourage them to develop their talents and become self reliant; the skill acquisition programme has actually generated employment at the grassroots.

    “The essence is to bring them out of the creeks and make them not only employable, but also employers of labour. We encourage them to stop waiting for government,‘’ he said.

    The commissioner said that NDDC was planning more human capital development programmes for the unemployed in the state.

    He said that the commission was executing many road construction and rehabilitation projects in Cross River State .

  • NDDC, ministry, have failed Niger Delta – CLO

    The Bayelsa State chapter of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has berated interventionist agencies established by the government to address the challenges in the Niger Delta region.

    The state chairman of the group, Mr. Nengi James, alleged that the agencies had betrayed their mandate of developing the region.

    James who spoke in an interview in Yenagoa yesterday said establishments like the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Ministry of the Niger Delta had become an avenue for some persons to enrich themselves.

    He alleged that the agencies were being used by some persons to selfishly accumulate wealth, especially awarding contracts for political patronage.

    He called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the financial transactions of the agencies.

    He said, “For me, those who created the interventionist agencies in the Niger Delta had a good idea, but the operators and the people heading these agencies may be the problem.

    “Some of us still believe that these agencies cannot help the Niger Delta people. So far, they have not been able to address the problems in the region.”

    He said despite the complaints of fund starving, the little money released by the government to carry out some projects in the region was being “shared by a select few at the detriment of the people.”

    He further observed that the agencies had abandoned the Niger Delta Master Plan in their operations.

    “The Niger Delta Master Plan, we do not even know where it is now. The whole money is spent on conferences and planning of master plan. By so doing, the majority of the people suffer from abject poverty and hunger. Unemployment and crime have become the order of the day because of the inability of the agencies to address their core mandates,” he said.

  • I’m innocent, says girl arrested in kidnappers’ den

    The Bayelsa State Police command in Yenagoa was a beehive last Friday. It was like an exhibition of sort: various sizes and types of weapons recovered from suspected criminals were on display.

    Squatting round a pavement bearing a pole of the national and police flags were suspects arrested for varying offences. Some of them bared their black and fair skin.

    The only woman among them, identified as Naomi, was the centre of attraction. She remorsefully begged for forgiveness.

    When she sighted the Niger Delta Report, she intensified her plea for leniency.

    “I don’t know anything about this matter. I only went to visit my boyfriend. I begged him to come to Yenagoa but he refused and asked me to come and meet him at Agrisaba.

    “I went and after eating l slept off. It was in my sleep that the police raided the building and arrested me. They said the man was a kidnapper. I am innocent. I only met him once in Yenagoa. I am a 100-level student of the College of Education. Help me,” she begged.

    The young undergraduate was identified as the girlfriend of the ringleader of a gang of kidnappers who abducted five workers of Beks Nigeria Limited and M. Sidom. The companies were engaged by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to carry out shore protection and reclamation work at the erosion-ravaged Opuama community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. The indigenous workers were seized by the assailants who operated on a speedboat and were whisked away to a militant camp in Agrisaba creeks in Nembe Local Government Area.

    They were later released after the companies paid N6 million to the kidnappers. But luck ran out for some of the suspects during an organised police operation; about N1.45 million, part of the ransom, was recovered in a room. The money was recovered through a tracker device, and Naomi was in the room when the police carried out the operation.

    Arrested in the same room with Naomi was a suspect identified as Desmond Sunday.

    Sunday told Niger Delta Report that he was not a kidnapper but was only hired by the abductors to cook for them during the operation.

    “I am not a kidnapper. My boss hired me to cook for him and others when they went for the operation”, he said referring to his boss as an influential man who was in charge of the security of a wellhead belonging to an oil company in Nembe.

    He said: “Whenever there is a movement (a criminal operation), we always move to a camp. My boss named (names withheld) operates a camp called Mokirikiri Camp.

    “He called me and said I should follow him to the camp. When we got there, he said I should prepare food that they were coming. So, I cooked at the camp and shortly after that he and others came with five persons.

    “They started making calls. They first demanded N20million ransom but after some days they moved the five persons out of the camp and came back with N6million. I was given N50,000 from the money but he promised to add N20,000 to me. In the night when I was sleeping, the police came to the room and arrested me and two other persons. We went to where my boss was staying but we didn’t see him.”

    Commissioner of Police Hillary Okpara gave details of how the police located the hideout of the kidnappers.

    He distanced the command from the N6million ransom paid to the kidnappers saying Beks Nigeria Limited and M. Sidom whose workers were abducted parted with the ransom without the knowledge of the police.

    He said the police used a map to find the suspects’ hideout, adding that Naomi would not be set free until the police conclude investigations and determine her level of involvement.

    He said: “While the police were fine-tuning our strategies aimed at storming the hoodlums’ hideout and releasing the captives, the companies went ahead and paid the ransom without informing the police and the victims were released.

    “However, police went ahead and after analysing our intelligence, which include studying the map and the terrain of the area vis-a-vis the only waterway leading to the area, we raided the hideout and arrested three of the kidnappers. We recovered part of the ransom money paid to them. Efforts are on to arrest one who ran away.”

    He listed the items recovered from the kidnappers as one freezer, a television set, one generator and about N1.45million of 29 wraps of N50,000 notes, which he said was part of the ransom.

    He said members of the team that arrested the suspects displayed professionalism during the raid as they did not fire a gunshot in the area.

    He further said the police recovered eight large cylinders from five suspected oil pipeline vandals at Amurukeni and Ogbia town in Ogbia Local Government Area and Biseni in Yenagoa Local Government Area.

    He said:”For the fact that the police arrested these kidnappers where they did not believe we will have access to because of its very difficult terrain is a warning to potential kidnappers and illegal oil thieves who carry out their criminal activities in the creeks.

    “Obviously, Desmond and his partners in crime, including Naomi are in trouble. The new law operating in the state stipulates death sentence for anybody arrested and convicted for kidnapping.”

    The Commissioner for Information, Markson Fefegha, said the government was committed to stopping crimes to ensure a violence-free society.

    He said there was a paradigm shift in strategies adopted by the government to fight criminality, adding that the government would no longer pay lip service to issues of peace and security.

    “There will be no sacred cow in the enforcement of law and order and offenders should be ready to face the full wrath of the law. There is an anti-kidnapping and other matters law operating in Bayelsa State and by the provision of the law, anybody found guilty of kidnapping is liable to punishment by death,” he said.

     

  • Will NDDC board free Niger Delta of ‘failed’ projects?

    Will NDDC board free Niger Delta of ‘failed’ projects?

    President Goodluck Jonathan is expected any moment from now to announce a new board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The board is coming in at a time there are concerns over abandoned or failing Federal Government projects in the region.

    In Akwa Ibom, projects in deplorable conditions include the East-West Road, which passes through Ikot Abasi, Onna, Eket and Oron and the Eket-Ibeno Road.

    The Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District Assembly, a group of opinion leaders in the area, said the slow pace of work and shabby handling of some federal projects have become worrisome.

    The group said: “The haphazard execution of the roads, notably the East–West Road, and the Eket – Ibeno road has made it impossible for economic and social activities between communities affected by the re-construction of the projects.’’

    The group doubts the completion of the Akwa Ibom section of the East – West Road before the December 2014 deadline.

    It said: “We doubt very seriously the possibility of attaining this promise on this stretch of road which traverses Ikot Abasi, Mkpat Enin, Onna, Eket, Nsit Ubium, Urue Offong Oruko, Okobo and Oron in Akwa Ibom State. Kindly take a look at the proposed Bye-pass where work has not started and the Qua Iboe River Bridge being constructed at snail speed.

    “On the Eket Ibeno Road, they maintained that the road which links the operational base of Mobil Producing Nigeria with the rest of the state has been in a sorry state for the past two decades, and despite the fact that contract for its reconstruction having been awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission, the road still remains a perpetual death trap.

    “In view of this we believe that the Good Governance Tour currently is a step in the right direction, as this exercise affords the Federal Government the opportunity to have inspected projects across the countr and thereby address the challenges associated with the implementation of projects.”

    The state is also home to the inland water jetty that has been neglected by successive governments. There is also the abandoned NTA Channel 39 Eket. The project, which commenced in 2001 as part of the Federal Government’s Rural Broadcasting Programme, was billed to start in June 2003.

    The group said: “The building was completed, transmitters installed and generators provided but the station has not been commissioned ten years after completion. We strongly suggest that the minister should find time to visit this project of his ministry and use his good office to ensure the smooth take-off of this viable media outfit, which could be of immense importance to the transformational leadership of the president, as well as sensitise the people as at when due.”

    Recently, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) expressed concern over the abandonment of projects by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    President of NUPENG, Igwe Achese, in a statement, said: “It is sad to state that despite the huge funds allotted the NDDC from oil revenue to develop Niger Delta, there is nothing really on ground to show for its existence. We have had many cases of NDDC contractors collecting mobilisation fees and abandoning the projects. The objective of setting the NDDC has not really been met, as the roads in the Niger Delta are still in deplorable state. The NDDC is just another avenue for its officials and government cronies to enrich themselves. The NDDC has failed to transform lives in the Niger Delta.

    “It is only its signboards that are seen, with no noticeable progress in the contracts awarded. A case in point is the reclamation project in Gbaramatu area where the contractor was reported to have removed its equipments even when the project has not been completed.”

    NUPENG urged the Federal Government to review the mandate of the NDDC to make its impact felt by the people whose soil has been destroyed by the activities of oil multi-nationals.

    Achese added : “It is a pity that the NDDC has not lived up to expectations despite the huge billions of naira voted for its activities every year. The Federal Government must, therefore, set up a special task force to monitor all its activities, projects and make sure that they are commissioned on time.”

    The report of Presidential Monitoring Committee on NDDC is also a testimony that the next NDDC board must make a difference. It indicted the management of the commission of abandoning 285 projects in the region. The projects are at different levels of completion.

    The projects were executed between 2005-2011. The report said 609 projects in three states were physically inspected and evaluated. Of the 609 projects monitored, 222 (36.5 per cent) were completed, 102 (16.7 per cent) were on-going and 285 (46.8 per cent) were abandoned at various levels of completion.

    The report indicated that “the committee interacted with host communities, stakeholders, the NNDC contractors and officials and discussed grey areas, with a view to correcting the anomalies identified in the course of the project inspections”.

    Critical issues in the report include: “The abandonment of a large number of projects and the refusal of NNDC to address the issue of abandoned projects with no evidence of any attempt to recover the funds using appropriate government agencies such as EFCC and ICPC; the failure of the NNDC, to complete all Civic Center projects over an operational period of 12 years; The failure of NDDC to complete all shoreline protection projects over an operational period of 12 years; the failure of NDDC to complete all University Hostel Projects over an operational period of 10 years. It is noted that the federal government has allocated billions of Naira on the projects listed in ii-iv above and above as spent these monies; the unjustifiable introduction of astronomical variations on the contracts sums of most projects awarded by the NDDC over short periods of time. Some of these variations are effected prior to project commencement; The deliberate exclusion of some meg projects from the list of projects submitted to the Presidential Monitoring Committee for evaluation; the refusal of NDDC to sanction incompetent contractors such as Messrs Fountain Construction Company Ltd handling the Eket-Ibeno road in Akwa IBM state. It was noted that the incompetence of this contractor led to the strike action embarked upon by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Mobil Producing Nigeria Branch ( PENGASSAN-MPN) on 28th August 2012. most of the water projects embarked upon by NDDC are non-functional; the approval and execution of some projects that are completely outside the statutory operational scope of the NDDC, such as renovation of Port Harcourt Club and study on the generation of electric power from gully erosion sites amongst others; the refusal of NDDC to provide accounting records and records of beneficiaries of NDDC mass transit boat and bus scheme embarked upon since 2004; and the uncooperative attitude of NDDC management to the committee by refusing to provide records of some critical financial transactions of the commission such as the bank statements, payment vouchers, and their supporting documents, the stores records and accounts and the insensitive response of the NDDC management to the problems of contractors as related to the execution of their projects”.

    Jonathan, on receipt of the report, said: “One of the key issues you raised that we will also looked into it and see how we can cement it is that there is a gap between the managing committee and the management of the NDDC and they suppose not to see themselves as cat and dog. They functions suppose to complement because the NDDC cannot monitor itself.

    “From the establishing law the feeling is that let a body be established that could monitor and it could even help the management because you can never see what they are doing behind you. So we expect a robust relationship between the committee and the management and if you have a robust relationship if the committee observes certain things you can even discuss with the management even before reports are sent to the Presidency. And if there is an area where is not properly understood, there will be the basis for explanation.”

    But, there are the issue of the government and others not giving the NDDC its dues. The Federal Government is said to be owing the commission no less than N500 million. When the House of Representatives Committee on the Niger Delta toured some states in the region in June, it made it clear that the commission needed the money to function well.

    By the Act establishing the Commission, the Federal Government is to contribute an equivalent of 15 percent of the sum accruable to the nine oil producing state from the Federation Account for its operations. But the government had defaulted on this on several occasions. As at 2009, what had been denied the Commission was put at about N500billion approximately.

    Chairman of the House Committee on NDCC Nicholas Mutu said: “We now appreciate the need to commit more funds for the rapid development of the oil-rich region. What we have seen convinces us that the NDDC is making tremendous impact on the lives of the people. We will, therefore, urge the Federal Government to give the commission the financial muscle to be able to handle more big ticket projects.

    “We commend the NDDC for working against these odds and still delivering on its mandate of fast-tracking the development of the Niger Delta. In the light of this, we call on the Federal Government to encourage the commission by releasing the over N500 billion it is owing on outstanding statutory allocations to it.”

     

     

  • Abia community seeks NDDC’s help

    The residents of Asa North autonomous community in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State has called on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to mobilise contractors handling their community road projects back to site.

    Sam Adiele, the community’s spokesman addressing reporters at Obingwu, one of the villages in Asa North, alleged that after NDDC awarded the contract for the reconstruction of Uratta/Obokwe and the Obingwu/Umugo, they hurriedly came to the site at the beginning of the rainy season, did an untidy scratching of the earth and abandoned the road projects into thin air.

    Adiele said that since the contractors abandoned the two major roads in the community, the situation has become bad that, they can hardly have access to the road, especially, now that the rain is at its peak

    The community leader said his people were experiencing hardship as vehicles no longer come in or leave the community due to the bad nature of the roads, adding that the community whose residents are largely farmers now find it difficult to take their farm produce to urban centres to sell .

    He said he had contacted Mr Amadi, (the man in charge of Abia projects at NDDC) and complained about the abandonment of the project and the deplorable condition of the roads, but that nothing had been done.

    He, therefore, appealed to officials of the commission to mobilise the road contractors back to site in order to complete the road projects, stressing that the project when completed, would assist the community have access to urban markets now that the harvest season at the corner.

    Mr. Tony Aniekwe, whose house and poultry farm were affected by the flood called on the authorities to come to their aid in order to save them from economic and food wastage.

     

  • Oboh’s stay as NDDC boss shaky

    Oboh’s stay as NDDC boss shaky

    The crisis of confidence between the Presidency and the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, may soon consume certain government officials believed to be close to Amaechi. One of them is the MD of Niger Delta Development Comission (NDDC), Dr. Christian Oboh. The youthful NDDC boss was nominated for the position by Amaechi, who has since fallen out with the powers that be.

  • Intrigues as Ondo, Bayelsa battle for NDDC top job

    Intense lobbying has begun over which state will produce the next Executive Director (Projects) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), The Nation has learnt.

    The plum job, it was gathered, has been zoned to Ondo and Bayelsa states.

    Sources disclosed President Goodluck Jonathan is currently in a dilemma on which of the two states will produce the next Executive Director of Projects (ED/P) of the NDDC.

    The Nation further gathered that Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has recommended a retired director of the commission, Mr. Benson Obayelu, for the position, while his Bayelsa State counterpart, Seriake Dickson, has nominated a younger brother of former governor of the state for the plum job.

    Mimiko has also forwarded the names of the current state representative on the board, Dele Citizen Omogbemi, and former NBA Chairman, Okitipupa zone, Barrister Amuwa Benson, as the state representative on the new board to the Presidency for consideration out of which one of the nominees’ names will be sent to the National Assembly for ratification.

    The source said, “President Jonathan is under serious pressure to appoint an indigene of Bayelsa State as the next ED/P of NDDC and preferably the younger brother of a former governor of his home state.

    Other sources said Jonathan may have decided to pacify the loser state with the position of Executive Director, Finance and Administration (EDFA) of the commission, while the chairman of the new Board may come from Cross River State based on the statutory alphabetical arrangement for the appointments of the Chairman of the board among the oil producing states.

    “Ordinarily, if the president wants to follow the list of the appointments of past board members and their positions, the new ED/P should have come from Ondo State, because Bayelsa State has produced the former MD, Chairman and EDFA of the commission in the past,” a source said.

    For the nominee from Rivers State, sources said some forces within and outside the state are putting pressure on Jonathan not to accept any nominee of the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi.

    This development may not be unconnected with the current face-off between the governor and the Presidency.