Transparency, prudent management of financial resources, and deployment of a new master plan are some of the strategies that would attract the private sector to support the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and return the agency to the path of sustainable development of the Niger Delta.
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Simbi Wabote stated this in his keynote address at the NDDC Public-Private Partnership Summit 2023 held in Lagos.
According to Wabote, once the Commission’s finances are transparently and prudently managed, it will entice genuine local and international partnerships. He also recommended that the NDDC should project itself positively through its choice of signature projects and interventions, and open its accounts and project sites for public scrutiny.
“Capital is very shy and avoids controversies like a plague. In a situation where there are real or perceived infractions, corruption, lack of accountability, and other vices, capital attraction becomes a big challenge,” he said.
Wabote, who noted that NDDC has diverse sources of funding, some of which include the federation account, oil producing companies, state governments, and local or international grants, said the Commission would thus be expected to demonstrate financial ingenuity before it could leverage for more capital.
The Executive Secretary based his recommendations against the backdrop of experiences at the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), which is currently rated as the best agency in the country by several independent arms of the Federal Government and the private sector.
While blaming the failure of the Niger Delta Regional Master Plan launched in 2007 on insufficient funding, frequent leadership changes, delays in budget approvals, and other issues, Wabote canvassed for a modified or an ‘entirely new Niger Delta Master Plan to be developed with the support of key stakeholders of the region’.
He also advised the Commission to stick to its core mandate and avoid being pressured by interest groups to derail or dabble into projects outside its responsibility, emphasising that the assessment of proposals should be strictly based on their sustainability, ‘otherwise it would be money down the drain’. Wabote also suggested that development and infrastructure projects should no longer be considered as gifts, but as commercial ventures that need to be managed for profitability.
He also hailed he NDDC management for the summit, saying the theme, ‘Rewind to Rebirth’, is ‘the start of a new dawn in making the Commission to retrace its steps back to the original objectives of its formation as an intervention agency for the development of the Niger Delta’.
Wabote admitted that it was imperative for NDDC to explore innovative funding via PPPs as a credible option to meet the expanding developmental demands of the Niger Delta region, hinting that ‘PPP’s also bring with it corporate governance, technical expertise, and commercial acumen to enhance project delivery and successful operations’.
Highpoint of the summit was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth over $15 billion between the NDDC and Atlanta Global Resources Inc, an international infrastructure project financing firm, for the construction of a mega rail line that would connect the nine states that make up NDDC and ease the infrastructure deficit in the region.
NDDC Managing Director Samuel Ogbuku described the deal as the first harvest of the PPP approach. He noted that NDDC could no longer shoulder the enormous responsibility of developing the Niger Delta region alone, hence the recourse to PPP model to provide alternative funding sources for critical development projects and programmes to effectively drive sustainable development in the region.
Other dignitaries who spoke at the event noted that most of the funds that had accrued to the NDDC in previous years had not been properly applied, thereby contributing to the region’s continued underdevelopment.
They charged the Ogbuku-led management to chart a new course and partner the state governments and other stakeholders to deliver impactful projects for the region.