The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Prof. Nelson Brambaifa

  • ‘NDDC committed to delivering quality projects’

    Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Prof. Nelson Brambaifa has said the commission is committed to delivering quality projects in the Niger Delta. He promised that standards will not be compromised.

    A statement on Sunday by NDDC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Charles Odili, said Brambaifa gave the assurance at the inauguration of a new road in the Government Reservation Area (GRA) Layout Extension in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    According to him, the commission would continue to execute projects that would positively impact the people’s lives.

    Brambaifa was accompanied by the Bayelsa State Coordinator Francis Kolokoro; Director of Bayelsa Office Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, and others.

    Read Also: Dickson to Brambaifa: NDDC diverting project money to fund elections

    According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari deserved praise for the increasing number of completed projects in the region. He urged stakeholders’ to hail President Buhari for supporting the accelerated execution of development projects, by ensuring that funds were made available for NDDC to carry out its mandate.

    The NDDC chief, who admonished the people to support the Federal Government, also praised them for their peaceful conducts when projects were being executed in their areas.

    He urged them to sue for peace, stressing that development would be impossible chaos.

    Brambaifa said: “Peace is very important in order to assist the government in spreading development in the Niger Delta.”

    The NDDC chief noted that the road would serve the residents well as it would enhance their businesses and social activities.

    He said: “This is a sign of better things to come. More projects will be launched in the days and weeks ahead.”

    The NDDC team earlier visited Governor Seriake Dickson, who called for greater collaboration in the design and execution of projects by the commission, and urged NDDC to focus more on big-ticket projects.

  • Ex-militants lied against Brambaifa, say stakeholders

    Some Niger Delta stakeholders have lampooned a group of ex-militants under the auspices of the Niger Delta Ex-agitators Leaders Forum (NDEL) for attacking the acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Prof. Nelson Brambaifa.

    The stakeholders, who defended Brambaifa under the aegis of Coalition of Niger Deltans for Justice and Development (CONDJUD), described as unfounded, fabricated and concocted the allegations leaders of NDEL relied upon to ask President Muhammadu Buhari not to confirm the appointment of Brambaifa 

    The Secretary-General, CONDJUD, Elder Christopher Abarowei, said it was not tenable for some disgruntled ex-militants to attack Braimbaifa and his office because of a water hyacinth project.

    “Their call on President Muhammadu Buhari to shelve plans to confirming Prof. Nelson Brambaifa as substantive Managing Director of the NDDC should, therefore, be disregarded”, he said.

    Abarowei said the anti-Brambaifa group consisted of a few selfish and myopic persons, who could not make the list of thousands of Niger Deltans from across Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Imo and Abia states that benefitted from the last water Hyacinth projects  

    He said: “No genuine group in the Niger Delta including to the so-called self acclaimed leaders of Niger Delta Ex-agitators would claim ignorance of the fact that since his appointment as the acting MD of the commission, Brambaifa has coordinated well the activities of NDDC and done more in the area of youth empowerment and resolving several issues unattended to by his predecessors. 

    “Therefore’ the ex-militant leaders, if they are real should be thankful to the acting MD for being able to resolve issues surrounding the water hyacinth project neglected by previous administrations of the commission.

    “The faceless coordinator, his one-man group, and their sponsors strayed and showed selfishness when it said Brambaifa refused to pay for water hyacinth projects and to meet with them to discuss kilometer road jobs. 

    “The principle of youth empowerment is to stop restiveness in the Niger Delta and in line with the objective of the commission but not to serve few elements with selfish motives.

    “No amount of treat, intimidation or harassment by any group, we are sure, would move Brambaifa and his vision-conscious colleagues to yield to selfish demands as the acting MD will neither snub nor neglect any genuine group with genuine case for empowerment. 

    “We call on all well-meaning elders and leaders from the region to reach out and give the best of support to the acting MD and his hardworking team to achieve the objectives and purpose for which they are appointed.

    “Professor Brambaifa, a prudent manager of funds, unlike most public office holders do not play politics with development and enhancement of the condition of the people of the region. 

    “No Niger Deltan is more fit for the position of Managing Director of NDDC and Mr. President should therefore in the shortest possible time confirm the appointment of Prof Nelson Brambaifa in the interest of the development of the entire Niger Delta region”.

  • NDDC to pay debts owed to contractors soon – MD

    Prof. Nelson Brambaifa, the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said on Sunday that the commission would soon commence payment of debts owed to contractors.

    Brambaifa gave the assurance at a thanksgiving service held in honour of his family at the Chapel of the Annunciation Catholic Chaplaincy at the University of Port Harcourt.

    According to him, the new management of the commission was working tirelessly to deliver on its mandate within the shortest possible time.

    “The management is currently clearing debts of N10 million and below and we are hoping to increase it to N20 million soon for other contractors.

    “Our aim is that contractors will stay in their house and get bank alerts. We don’t want them to be coming to NDDC headquarters, strolling all over the place.

    “We will get to N20 million and above gradually. This is because the race of a thousand mile starts with a first step and we are at the first step,” he said.

    Brambaifa said it would be impossible to drive development in the region if the people did not embrace peace.

    The managing director called on the people to be patient with the new management and give it time to deliver on its mandate.

    “We are a new kid on the block, going by being one month in office. We know that a lot of work needs to be done to fulfill our mandate.

    “We are urging the people to remain calm because there cannot be development without peace. We are doing our best to maintain peace,” he said.

    Speaking, Prof. Ndowa Lale, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, congratulated Brambaifa on his recent appointment as acting managing director of NDDC.

    Lale said the university was happy with the appointment of its two former students into key positions in the new NDDC management.

    “I have told them that they should be light to UNIPORT, just like God said let there be light in the Bible,” he told Brambaifa. (NAN)

  • NDDC, monarchs to work for development of Niger Delta

    The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Prof. Nelson Brambaifa, has given an assurance that he will work with traditional rulers in providing sustainable development for the Niger Delta.

    Brambaifa, according to a statement by NDDC’s new Director, Corporate Affairs, Charles Odili, stated this during a courtesy visit by members of the Izon Elders’ Council, Delta State, at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.

    He challenged the monarchs to continue to support the development process in the crude oil and gas-rich region, noting that they would always play crucial roles in ensuring peace and providing a platform for dialogue.

    The NDDC chief noted that efforts were being made to revive the Partners for Sustainable Development (PSD) forum, in order to serve as a clearing house for the commission’s projects.

    He reiterated that the PSD forum was an important organ for bringing all the stakeholders under one umbrella, to aid the process of harmonising development projects, as enunciated in the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan (NDRDMP).

    Brambaifa underscored the role of NDDC as an interventionist agency, charged with the responsibility of fast-tracking the development of Nigeria’s oil rich region.

    He said: “Our goal is to uplift the living standard of our people, engage in infrastructural development and drive a robust capacity building. These are the things we are doing to promote the stability of our region and we urge you to be partners with us.”

    READ ALSO: NDDC partners EU on sustainable water

    The acting managing director also urged key stakeholders in the Niger Delta not to relent in their efforts to address the challenge of restiveness, thereby creating the right environment for the commission to complete all its projects and thus take the region to the next level.

    The Chairman of Izon Council of Elders, Chief Bare Etolor, in his address, felicitated with Brambaifa and the other executive directors on their appointments, while expressing eagerness to partner with NDDC in bringing sustainable development to the Niger Delta.

    Etolor said: “Our voice has been heard across the country on issues concerning peace, development, youth restiveness, inter-ethnic/multi-national community relationship, resource control and good governance.”

    Chairman of Izon council of elders also pleaded with the NDDC chief to ensure the completion of the commission’s projects, especially in all the Ijaw communities and requested the award of contract for the Phase 2 channelisation of the Ogbe-Ijoh Bututu River creek.

  • NDDC, EU partner on project

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is collaborating with the European Union to complete abandoned water projects in nine states of the Niger Delta region.

    Prof. Nelson Brambaifa, NDDC’s Managing Director, disclosed this in a statement issued by the commission’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr Charles Odili, in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

    According to the statement, Brambaifa gave the hint when he addressed a delegation from the EU-funded Niger Delta Support Programme 3 (NDSP3) on a visit to the NDDC in Port Harcourt.

    Brambaifa was quoted as saying that the NDDC was passionate to institutionalise community-based management structure for the maintenance and sustainability of basic infrastructure in the region.

    “We need to develop a framework to ensure community ownership of water projects in the region. This is because water is life.

    “We are looking forward to strengthening the collaboration with the EU to resuscitate abandoned water infrastructure in the region,” he said.

    Brambaifa said that in spite of abundance of groundwater in the Niger Delta, the region still lacked access to potable drinking water due to pollution.

    The NDDC boss said the region needed water project that would be sustainable to the satisfaction of inhabitants of the region.

    According to him, it is one thing to organise a project like this; but another to ensure its sustainability.

    “We don’t just start a water project and two months later it is vandalised.

    “So, we are committed to this partnership with the EU. We will work out modalities to ensure that any water project we commission would stand the test of time.

    “Also, we must find ways to safeguard our projects because it is one of our core mandates to bring sustainable development to people of the Niger Delta,” he said.

    The NDDC boss also urged the EU to commit more funds to the project with focus to tackling the menace of water-borne diseases in the region.

    Mr Albert Achten, Team Leader of the EU-NDSP3, said the body was ready to fast track completion of the 45 water projects in the region on or before end of May.

    Achten urged NDDC to release its counterpart fund early, especially as an existing contract between EU and the Ministry of Budget and National Planning would terminate in few months.

    “We enjoin our partners to push for an effective and timely implementation of the EU and NDDC-NDSP3 pilot project.

    “In the last two years, synergy had been developed between the EU-funded NDSP and NDDC towards reviving 45 abandoned water schemes in the nine Niger Delta states.

    “The NDSP part of the project is financed by the EU, but the logistics for some of the activities are expected to be taken care of by NDDC,” he said.