Okowa urges better deal for Niger Delta

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has called for proper funding of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and execution of projects with competent contractors in the region.

The governor, who made the appeal while receiving the Peter Nwaoboshi-led Senate Committee on Niger Delta yesterday in Asaba, noted that shoddy jobs were militating against the speedy development of the area.

“The terrain of the Niger Delta is very bad and it is very expensive to execute projects, especially, roads in the region,” he remarked, adding that budget should be prepared in line with the quantum of oil produced by communities.

“This oversight function of the committee will stimulate a win-win situation for everybody,” he stated.Okowa, who lauded the amnesty programme for former militants, however, observed that there was still a lot to be done to deepen the impact. He particularly frowned at leaving the beneficiaries idle, that is, without legitimate employment.

Nwaoboshi told the governor that the committee was in the state to carry out its oversight functions on the NDDC and the amnesty programme.He disclosed that since the inception of the NDDC, 1, 674 projects had been awarded in the state, representing 20 per cent of the total, so far by the interventionist agency.

He, however, lamented that more than 50 per cent of the projects had been abandoned.On the amnesty programme, Nwaoboshi said: “We are going to have a public hearing on it and we want the state government to send position papers on the way forward.”