The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Niger-Delta

  • ‘Oil subsidy scammers nurturing vandalism, militancy, crude oil theft’

    The oil subsidy scammers, who benefited immensely from fake importation of petroleum products, are nurturing vandalism, militancy, crude oil theft and the unwarranted disruptions in the sector, to the level being witnessed, especially in the Niger Delta.

    The disclosure was made Wednesday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, by the Convener of the Second Edition of the Save Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry (SNOAGI) Roundtable, Dr. Brown Ogbeifun.

    The roundtable was organised by the African Initiative for Transparency, Accountability and Responsible Leadership (AFRITAL).

    Project SNOAGI was launched last year, as a veritable platform for bringing stakeholders together to interact, brainstorm and make prescriptions on how to improve the efficiency of the oil and gas operations, thereby assisting government in bringing sanity to the sector.

    Ogbeifun said: “Most of the motherless US Dollars, British Pounds, Euro and Naira found in wardrobes, farms and soak-away pits are definitely primary or secondary products of mismanaged oil funds, which might explain why the oil industry has witnessed gross underdevelopment.

    “The revelations emanating from the Malabu oil deal, the brazen cash withdrawals from oil money accounts to pursue non-value addition to the good of our hydrocarbon development are indeed very sad.

    “There is no doubt that there has been lack of investors’ confidence in the oil industry, as policies and laws that would have protected their investments are not seriously addressed.

    “The issues of over regulation through multiple regulatory agencies, multiple taxation, global and local oil politics have made it an intractable possibility for Nigeria to reach it’s optimum productivity.”

    The convener also stated that Nigeria was ripe enough to be self-sufficient in producing all the necessary derivatives from crude oil.

    Ogbeifun noted that compounding the parlous state of the oil and gas sector came the sabotaging of the pipelines by the militants, which he insisted almost crippled operations in the sector.

    He said: “Paradoxically, we export our crude oil and create refining capacities for other economies, at the detriment of the Nigerian state. Why must we continue to export our mineral resources in exchange for finished products in the oil and gas industry?

    “Our leaders have consistently displayed lack of political will to drive the transformation imperatives to a logical conclusion. That is why we are still talking of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), 17 years after it started its journey.

    “No country treats its critical reforms the way we do. Not passing the PIB has led to losses in trillions of naira, loss of investment opportunities, inability to realise our optimum capacity utilisation and the inability to end gas flaring, which was to have ended in 2008.

    “The PIB might not be a perfect document, just as it is all over the world. All we need is an enduring dialogue process and the will of steel by government to drive the process to its logical conclusion. No matter the drawbacks, the PIB contains many sections that would have greatly enhanced the hydrocarbon potential of Nigeria.”

    The convener also stated that mediation was very effective in the resolution of knotty conflicts, while pleading that the ongoing dialogue process between top officials of the Federal Government and Niger Delta militants/leaders should be sustained.

    He noted that while government was seeking solutions to all the challenges in the Niger Delta, all parties should sheathe their swords,  show good faith and respect for one another, declaring that no meaningful development would take place in an atmosphere of chaos and anarchy.

    Ogbeifun added that the pronouncements of the Federal Government’s top officials on the setting up of modular refineries in the Niger Delta and the open confession that the crude oil and gas-rich region deserved a better deal, showed that there were still honourable men in the corridors of power in Nigeria.

     

  • Group to FG: Set up committee to identify local refineries

    The Niger Delta Youth Coalition for Peace and Progress (NDYCPP) has urged the Federal Government to set up a committee to identify local refineries in the Niger Delta

    The Acting National President of NDYCPP, Mr Olayinka Jude, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa on Sunday that the measure would ensure proper documentation of those refining sites in the region.

    NAN recalls that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, few months ago in Port Harcourt, announced government’s plan to integrate illegal refiners into the proposed modular refineries for the region.

    According to Jude, having detailed information about the capacities and amount of crude refined in the illegal sites would give accurate data on how to involve the local refiners.

    He pledged the readiness of the youth group to collaborate with all stakeholders towards identifying these illegal refineries.

    “Our coalition consists of proactive, pragmatic and forward-looking youth groups who are desirous of contributing meaningfully to the socio-economic growth of the country.

    “We suggest that government sets up a task force comprising the police, military, NNPC, oil companies, advocacy groups and other relevant bodies to go round the region to identify the sites,” he said.

    Jude said that operators of the artisanal refineries should be encouraged to form co-operatives for easier integration when the modular refineries came on stream.

    “The bunkering sites are known and those behind them are also known.

    “While they are waiting for the proposed government’s plan, those whose biometrics may have been captured during the documentation should be engaged in securing the environment.

    “They will help to prevent the establishment of new illicit bunkering sites,” he said.

     

  • Farmer wants government subsidy on animal feeds

    Sir Lucky Ikukaiwe, a poultry farmer and Chairman, Sparrow Agro-Vet Services, Warri, Delta, has called for government subsidy on animal feeds to boost production of poultry products in the Niger Delta.

    He made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba on Sunday.

    He said government needed to also subsidise piggery feeds to enable the people of the region, especially the youths, to participate more in agriculture.

    The chairman said increased participation in poultry production and piggery would create jobs and ensure adequate supply of protein needs of the people.

    According to him, the Niger Delta region has more comparative advantages over other zones in the country in poultry farming, piggery and fish farming.

    He added that “in this region, we have very good weather for poultry.”

    Ikukaiwe said that the people of the region, especially the youths, had been distracted for a very long time such that their focus had been misdirected.

    He said that except for the oil spillage in the region, the Niger Delta environment was suitable for fish farming.

    He noted that “the problem we are having in the Niger Delta is that we are looking at where we should not be looking.

    “We do not have the comparative advantage for maize cultivation like the northern part of the country with its vast land mass but we have good weather for poultry, fish farming and piggery.”

    The farmer said that for the youths to be properly engaged, states in the region should concentrate on areas they had comparative advantage.

    “This region can produce all the poultry products, fish and pork needed in this country because our environment is suitable for it.

    “What obtained in the past was a situation where government acquired and gave day old chicks to some ‘political farmers’ in the name of empowerment and leaving the real farmers.

    “With subsidy, the true farmers will buy more birds and feeds and produce more,” Ikukaiwe said.

     

  • ‘Stop paying derivation fund to Niger Delta governors’

    ‘Stop paying derivation fund to Niger Delta governors’

    Communities hosting oil companies in the Niger Delta region have urged the Muhammadu Buhari administration to stop paying the 13 per cent derivation fund to the region’s governors.

    They said the governors had not managed the fund well.

    The host communities said there has been consistent wastage in the funding of development projects across the region.

    In a statement yesterday by its President, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, the host communities, under the aegis of Flow Stations/Well Head Host Communities of Nigeria (FLOWHOSCON), urged the Federal Government to devote the fund to developing modular refineries across the region.

    Mulade, who decried the lack of government presence – at state and federal levels in the region – advised the Federal Government to ensure that host communities were given priority in the re-award of pipeline surveillance contracts to guarantee tight security for the national assets.

    He said: “Let the Federal Government channel the 13 per cent derivation being wasted by governors in the Niger Delta region into building modular refineries across the oil-rich region to end illegal bunkering, militancy and environmental degradation.

    “The Federal Government should seriously tackle illegal refineries being operated by some powerful individuals in the region. The government should go ahead with the plan to phase out illegal refineries and replace them with modular refineries. To achieve this, the government must also involve critical stakeholders, such as the host oil communities, in the region.”

    Mulade said the establishment of modular refineries would take the army of unemployed youths from the labour market.

    He said: “The Niger Delta region is host to onshore and offshore oil fields and flow stations being operated by multinational oil companies. It is clear the region is really major oil and gas producing area. It is, therefore, entitled to accelerated development from the federal and state governments as well as multinational oil and gas companies operating in the area. Let us end the neglect of the region.

    “The governors in the Niger Delta region have received trillions of naira between 2007 till date, but they have wasted these funds. Hence, we are calling on the Federal Government to channel such resources to the building of modular refineries across the region to reduce unemployment and save the environment being polluted daily.”

  • Niger Delta youths mourn Obua, Jonathan’s former CSO

    Niger Delta youths mourn Obua, Jonathan’s former CSO

    Niger Delta Youth Coalition for Peace and Progress (NDYCPP) on Sunday expressed grief over the death of Mr Gordon Obua, former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Obua, who hailed from Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa, reportedly died of heart attack on Thursday at the National Hospital, Abuja.

    Mr Fred Obua, a family member to the late CSO, confirmed the death on telephone to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    Coordinator of NDYCPP, Mr Kenedy West, said that the sudden demise of Obua was a sad loss to the Niger Delta.

    “It is a sad one; we lost a very big person in Obua, the former Chief Security Officer to Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan; the news of his death has thrown us all into mourning.

    “We have always relied on his wealth of experience and hoped that his expertise and knowledge could be deployed in ensuring and preserving peace in the Niger Delta region.

    “He was an asset and his untimely death is shocking to us; we pray for the repose of his soul,” West said.

    The group condoled with the family of the late CSO, the Ogbia kingdom and the people and government of Bayelsa.

  • Why SMEs fail in Niger Delta

    The rate of small business failures in the NIGER DELTA is alarming, and if solutions are not proffered and the situation brought to the fore of national discourse, that good path of creating jobs and stimulating the Nigerian economy will begin to look dim. Donald Trump won the American election with one promise, “I will bring back jobs that left America and more jobs,” that is what affects the average man on the street, gainful employment.   In most economies, the government accounts for less than 10% of all gainfully, consistently employed people in their climes, while big business accounts for another 21%, the remaining 69% are employed by small and medium enterprises, ranging from the small shop owners to the hi-tech family businesses.

    The few non-oil sector businesses in the Niger Delta are running away, from tyre manufacturing, rubber factories in Sapele, timber sawmills in Benin, Sapele, Warri, Port-Harcourt and so on. Food processing industries in Yenagoa are leaving in droves. The lack of small thriving businesses relying on the pittance oil companies spend after remitting the bulk of their proceeds abroad with spurious excuses and doing most of their procurement in their home countries and exporting the jobs back home, while local economies are left insolvent,.

    The amnesty programme is doing a great job in agriculture by precisely tailoring agricultural production to meet industrial needs, and the government of the day is showing willingness to upturn the apple-cart of corruption by turning the mindset of the people towards productive employment instead of waiting for a share of the proverbial national cake.

    Modern business is about 5Ms: men, money, machines, management and materials. Two parameters stand out in determining the failure or success of “ANY” business venture, these are men and management, because the two concern human beings that need a conducive environment to function. No matter the height of technology at the disposal of the propagators of a business venture, humans must be at the helm of affairs

    Every revenue collection agency in the Niger Delta is run by thugs and there are so many of them representing virtually every tier and agent of government, numerous local governments. State and countless agencies all swooping like vultures on small businesses, from shop owners to transporters or any other business premises where income is generated.

    There are very few successful business owners in the Niger Delta, unlike those of eastern extraction who have a long history of sustainable trading, oil companies have not sustained employment of the youths and broken the trading link chain in most families where young ones prefer non-existent oil –field related skills to lifelong trading and entrepreneurial abilities. There are no home grown businesses to learn from.

    Proper training (not education) specialised, objective, professional training to enhance capacity to tap into the honey comb of small business management is completely none -existent.

    Banks don’t touch start-ups, the desk officers are more interested in sourcing funds to meet their target amounts than listening to a young dreamer (entrepreneur). These are the real problems; inconsistency, disinterest and lack of support for young businesses.

    Instead of shopping for foreign investors who will come to “rape” our economy  and “rip” our people off, because their major motivation will be repatriation of proceeds back home  at all cost, as we saw in the handling of Ajaokuta  and Aladja steel where even pellets on ground were exported to their home country, we can work with our Nigerian value addition consultants, employing foreign specialists to train Nigerians in the rudiments of entrepreneurial management, business mix management (5M.s), export, foreign market penetration techniques, specialised packaging, business development strategies to improve our capacity to attract foreign currency through legitimate trade while creating employment for our people.

    Who negotiates for Nigeria in the international community, is it an academic that is straightjacket one subject expert that is empty even in ordinary table manners, or a politician who is good at arranging youths to carry placards to keep them relevant in the centre to continue sharing the money or the civil servants whose job is ‘Yes Sir’ to Mr Big minister? That is why our steel plants don’t work and we can’t get a modular petroleum refinery.

     

    • By Anthony Idiovwa

    Warri, Delta State.

  • Fed Govt empowers Niger Delta youths

    The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, once again fulfilled part of its commitments and obligations to the Niger Delta as 67 young men and women who went through intensive training programmes at The Polytechnic Ibadan and The Siegener Sabithos College, Ososami , Ibadan,  graduated at a colourful ceremony last weekend.

    The ceremony, which signalled the climax of an empowerment programme packaged by the Ministry of Niger Delta, was attended by the Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Prof. Cladius Daramola, the Rector of The Polytecnic Ibadan, Prof. Olatunde Fawole, his Deputy, Prof. Bayo Oyeleke, and the Insitution’s registrar and bursar, Mr Fehintola and Alhaji Rasheed Tiamiyu respectively.

    Others who graced the occassion were the Director of Training and Empowerment in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Ibrahim Akanya, the Director of Press in the Ministry, Mr Marshal Gundu, the Deputy Director of Press, Mr Stephen Kilebi and the Consultants in Charge of the Siegener Sabithos College, Dr Soji Ijidele and Senator Tunde Anifowose Kelani.

    The first batch of graduands who graduated from the Sabithos College, Ibadan, were 25 and they specialised in fish farming and production.

    The graduands learnt various techniques of fish farming and production with the aim of not only becoming employers of labour within their communities, but also contributing to the larger economy of the country.

    He said all activities regarding the training programmes were tailored in a manner that the graduands can never remain the same once they find their way back to the society, stressing that the programme was designed to make them become repository of ideas capable of taking them out of poverty.

    At The Polytecnic, Ibadan, where the 42 second batch of graduands were presented with certificates by the minister, the rector, and Director of Empowerment in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the rector of the Polytechnic, Prof. Fawole, said the graduands should take a good advantage of the opportunities provided them by the Federal Government after going through the programmes on ICT, Entrepreneurship and e-business.

    Prof. Fawole told the graduands that they have acquired the best of skill and knowledge from one of the best Polytechnics in Nigeria, therefore they are expected to utilise the skill to better their lives and that of the society.

    Daramola said the event was a demonstration of the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari would leave no stone unturned to end youth restiveness, kidnapping, pipeline vandalisation and other social vices in the Niger Delta.

    He said at the end of the graduation, the government would provide a startup capital of 400,000 naira to the first batch of graduands and N500,000  to the second batch, but warned that all monies released to Niger Delta youths for various empowerment programmes and micro enterprises would be strictly monitored to ensure that they are not channelled into unproductive ventures such as purchase of luxury cars and conduct of marriage ceremonies

    According to him, a mechanism would be put in place to follow-up the use of funds released to hundreds of Niger Delta youths who have received different training programmes and packages from the Federal Government in recent times.

    He urged the beneficiaries of the empowerment programmes for the youths in the nine oil producing states of the Niger Delta to take their destinies into their hands, stressing that about 31 million naira would be disbursed to them after the ceremony.

    His words: “When I graduated some years ago, I got employment in about six places, but today such opportunity is not available anywhere. Therefore, I urge you to make good use of this opportunity.

    “The package you will be given is a seed money. The President of Nigeria wants you to establish yourselves with this seed money. Please don’t go and eat pepper soup with the money. And that is why we are putting mechanism in place to monitor you through your addresses and your relations so that our efforts will not be in vain.”

    The minister noted that the training programme was aimed at exposing the youths to the use of ICT for the acquisition and dissemination of information, computer networking, development of micro, small and medium enterprises, internet browsing and entrepreneurship and business management.

    Akanya commended the minister for his initiatives.

  • Women seek equal chance in Niger Delta

    Women seek equal chance in Niger Delta

    Stakeholders comprising mainly of women from the nine states of the Niger Delta region gathered in Bayelsa State recently.  It was not a meeting to discuss petty domestic matters. It was a gathering to find lasting peace in the Niger Delta.

    The seasoned Nollywood actress, Hilda Dokubo, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of Bayelsa, Mrs. Ebizi Brown; the Regent Kalasuwe of Ijaw Apoi land, Ese Odo, Ondo State, Her Royal Majesty, Princess Joyce Adesola, were among the dignitaries that graced the occasion.

    In fact, it was an event to mark the International Women’s Day Forum entitled, “Women be bold for change in community leadership and in peace building”. The event which brought arrays of classy women together was organised by the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in Niger Delta (PIND), a non-profit organisation.

    The Field Project Manager, PIND Foundation, Mr. Sylvester Okoh, said the foundation was working to build partnership for peace and equitable economic development in the Niger Delta. “We hope to achieve a legacy of sustainable peace and development among communities in the region.

    “We hold strongly to the core values of partnership and collaboration, learning and innovation, stewardship, sustainability and integrity. Our strategic priorities centre on economic development, peace-building, capacity-building, analysis and advocacy”.

    Okoh commended the Bayelsa State Government Community and Social Dvelopment Agency (BCSDA) led by Eve Oyintonye, for working with PIND to put the event together. He recalled that when partners for peace (P4P) convened its maiden meeting in 2013 to brainstorm on peace-building in the region, only 130 members from across the states were in attendance.

    But, he said the number had grown to 4000 members and still counting. He said women were the sine qua non for peace saying any peace process without women remained incomplete.

    Okoh said: “Women are often caregivers as well as breadwinners in their homes. If you work in the Niger Delta, you would also know that many customs and traditions allow for the exclusion of women from decision-making and economic opportunities.

    “This makes women especially vulnerable in times of conflict because they often have nowhere to go and the warring factions often do not consider their needs. They are often under-represented at the leadership level.

    “In the Niger Delta and Nigeria, significant development cannot be recorded if women do not have the full right of access to resources.

    “Creating space for women to participate in economic activities, leadership and peace-building further enhances our ability to build social capital for peace while improving the quality of governance in our communities”.

    Okoh urged women to be bold for change in community leadership and peace- building adding women should take power that belonged to them and deepened their influence on decisions affecting them.

    In her address, Princess Adesola Oladiran-Ebiseni, lamented discrimination against women in decision-making. She said it was common for men to yell at women and prevent them from making their contributions in meetings.

    She, however, said in the Niger Delta women were not occupationally discriminated against by men. According to her men allow the women to engage in trade and other occupations such as fishing and farming.

    The regent went down memory lane to narrate obstacles she overcame to climb the throne of Apoi Land amidst male chauvinists. She appealed to women to free themselves of mental slavery and rise above male dominance.

    She said: “It is an irony that women themselves are sometimes the architects of their social retardation. For instance, in very harmful cultural practices, especially as they concern widowhood and female genital mutilation, women as members and wives in the family, are the ones who usually feel call upon by the ancestors to enforce such self-annihilating practices.

    “Even in the political arena, examples were given as in the case of illustrious Mrs. Sarah Jubril who only received her own vote in a presidential primary election where there were hundreds of women delegates”.

    She asked women to develop strength of character, psychological self-liberation, confidence and determination to weather the storm. She, however, argued that education remained the best weapon for social change.

    “In modern society, education is the refiner of the natural physiology and psychology that equips human kind for the great challenge of life and once acquired discriminates not about sex, creed or language but a leveler that catapults whoever acquires it and forces others to follow nilly willy.

    “In other words, education provides the opportunity for the woman to square up among themselves and with men not as opponents or enemies but equal partners in the quest for leadership as an instrument of social change”.

    The regent further dropped a food for thought. “If you want peace in any community, focus on the woman, who as a mother I’d responsible for the physiological and sociological wellbeing of her husband and children who ultimately make up the individual community and the aggregate of which is undoubtedly our cherished Niger Delta community”, she said.

    The Deputy Chief of Staff, Bayelsa State Government, Mrs. Ebizy Brown, urged worms to take their positions firmly in the society. He said the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, realising important roles played by women, gave many appointments to women and created opportunities for them to seek elective positions.

    She asked the women to bring up responsible children to ensure lasting peace in the Niger Delta region. “We should revert to the times of old. We should give our children a better foundation. We should let our children go to school and ensure they do their homework,” she said.

    Mrs. Brown appealed to women not to keep mute when decisions are taken in the community level. She acknowledged that women were hard workers in the Niger Delta region where they assumed occupational roles of farming and fishing. “We have a strong voice. So, we should stand up for what is right”, she added.

    In their goodwill messages, PPCD Programme Manager, Busola Babalola; the General Manager, Bayelsa community and Social Development Agency, Eve Oyintonyo; Director-General, Bayelsa State Government Girl-Child Agency, Mrs. Juliet Zifawei and other development partners, urged women to be change agents.

  • Poverty in the North, like Niger Delta

    SIR: Last week, two key developments relative to the Niger Delta made the news. One was the interview which Asari Dokubo granted Vanguard newspapers. Apart from insinuating that the Ijaw people owned the Niger Delta, and that the Ijaw are the armed custodians of the struggle for the emancipation of the Niger Delta, he went on to warn the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, to desist from further visiting the Niger Delta for the sake of solving some of the intractable problems bedevilling the region. As acting president, Osinbajo showed a commitment to the cause of the Niger Delta to the extent that whenever he comes visiting, he generates interest, trust and hope that the real clogs in the wheel of development in the Niger Delta would be identified and removed. This trustworthiness that he has often brought with him broke down barriers and divides to the extent that some states in the South-south and South-east conferred him with chieftaincy titles.

    And so, not up to a month after the then acting president made this assertion, enter Asari Dokubo. In his corralling the Vice president, he turned out to vindicate the clear majority of Niger Deltans who believe that institutions in the Niger Delta – the NDDC, the Ministry of the Niger Delta and DESOPADEC – will not succeed in alleviating the poverty of the region because of the interest of the political elite. You see, despite the billions already sunk therein, poverty of the worst kinds come from the Niger Delta. I remember a certain year in my village. Certain young men were getting fed up that although we had over 16 oil wells which contribute to the income of Nigeria, we had zero representation, zero hospitals and zero schools and Federal presence. Therefore, they stormed the offices of the multinationals drilling and exploring for oil. It was while there that the scales fell off from their eyes. They were shown video footages of certain elements claiming to be representatives of the village collecting monies which they swore they were collecting on behalf of the village. They saw the receipts, names and signatures appended to financial documents!

    And just the way it is in many places in the Niger Delta, there are many instances where the elite in Northern Nigeria work to keep the talakawa in perpetual poverty, using religion and cultural insinuations. That was what Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was referring to recently. At the KADINVEST 2.0 programme, the emir said that the elite in northern Nigeria is using religion and culture to cage their people. Some northerners refuse to send the young girls to school, preferring instead to keep them in purdah. The little boys are Almajiri – left to be groomed on the streets, they eventually morph into a guerrilla army in the hands of religious fundamentalists eager to send them straight to heaven.

    But like the Emir has said, while the rest of the Islamic world has since moved on, and is making advances in sciences, technology, innovation and medicine, the version we have here wants to remain in the 13th Century and keep the rest of Nigeria there as well.  What makes the case from the emir particularly interesting is that the modern northern elite is not known for this kind of openness. They would rather maintain and enjoy the status quo. While the South-South elite would generally speak up to generate intense public attention just for his pocket, the northern elite is often mute, savouring the rankadede which the minnows around bestow.

     

    • Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku,

    Benin City.

  • NDDC disburses N30bn to contractors – Ekere

    Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Nsima Ekere, on Tuesday said the commission had disbursed about N30 billion to its contractors.

    Ekere, who disclosed this at a meeting with members of NDDC Contractors’ Association in Port Harcourt, said the payment was made by the new Board since it took office in November.

    He said the board met over 8,000 projects scattered across the region with many abandoned with liability of about N1.3 trillion.

    According to him, the board has also directed that all interim payment certificates bearing below N20 million be processed for immediate payment.

    “We believe that process of documentation should be done right.

    “There was need for the commission to get its full funding as provided in the NDDC Act which would enable it carry out its mandate,” he said.

    Ekere said the board had already met with the Senate Committee on the Niger Delta with a view to ascertain the exact fund owed the commission.

    The NDDC boss said that challenges faced by the commission informed why the board used four months to work out its strategic road map for development, anchored on 4-R initiative.

    Ekere explained that the 4-R initiative aimed to restructure NDDC’s balance sheet; reform its governance protocols; restore the commission’s core mandate and reaffirm its commitment to doing what was right and proper.

    “Part of the reforms involves introduction of technology aimed to enhance service delivery system in the commission.

    “We are also reforming the governance systems in NDDC with focus to enshrining best international standard that would be difficult to reverse by successive boards after we leave.

    “Also, the board approached oil companies to involve them in our budgeting process to enable them make input; since they are working in host communities who have needs,” he said.

    Ekere said the commission had also set up a committee tasked with the responsibility to conduct investigative hearing on allegations of corruption on some of its staffers.

    He said the hearing which sought to promote transparency and probity in the commission was however delayed following security breaches at the hearing.

    The Managing Director said the committee had received several petitions and memorandum and assured that the committee was currently working tirelessly to resolve the matter.

    “I believe in constructive engagement, and as such, we are engaging with various stakeholders to confront challenges facing the Niger Delta,” he said.

    Mr Joe Adia, President of NDDC Contractors’ Association, said the association would continue to work with the board for the release of outstanding funds owed the commission.

    He urged the board to recognize the association as partner in progress and pointed out that the commission had a lot to learn if it worked closely with contractors.