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Activist seeks Buhari’s urgent action on NDDC forensic audit

By Clarkson Voke Eberu
22 November 2019   |   3:34 am
Rights activist, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, has enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to breathe life into his directive for the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and address promptly the problems behind the under-development of the oil-rich region.

President Buhari

Rights activist, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, has enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari to breathe life into his directive for the forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and address promptly the problems behind the under-development of the oil-rich region.

Lori-Ogbebor, who spoke yesterday at a press briefing in Lagos, said: “Mr. President, you ordered a forensic audit of the NDDC but we have not heard anything even till now.”

Reminding the Nigerian leader that the solution to the Niger Delta Question goes beyond mere political appointments and patronage, she urged him to address the human issue, which revolves around sustainable job creation for the teeming youths, their empowerment, and tackling of the health crisis and environmental degradation caused by years of oil exploration and exploitation.

Besides, the Igba of Warri urged the right appointments into the interventionist agency and other parastatals charged with the development of the Niger Delta.

She regretted that they, the mothers, had buried their children, husbands, sons, and daughters on account of the health hazards posed by the exploratory activities of oil majors that have made the area prone to the vagaries of life.

The women leader, who, therefore, urged Buhari to act decisively to avoid relapse to the restiveness of old, said: “Mr. President, please note that the matter on NDDC is not a political issue, it is a human issue. The oil-producing communities are domiciled by people who are living in the land of their ancestors, but have been pushed from their homes and are still leaving in the midst of (environmental) degradation in the name of Nigeria. They suffer all the health hazards resulting from the destruction of their land by oil companies.”

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