Some Niger Delta groups have blamed successive Nigerian past governments for using the Niger Delta Development Commission as a place to settle loyalists for political patronage, thereby making the commission to lose sight of its mandate.
This they said was responsible for the high level of corruption that became synonymous with the interventionist agency
They spoke yesterday at a joint press conference in Abuja to thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the reappointment of Chief Samuel Ogboku as Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The group said President Tinubu has come to change the old narratives of negative the image of the commission by reappointing the managing director who was also part of the struggle for the establishment of the commission.
They likened the reappointment to those of the Service Chiefs and election of the principal officers of the National Assembly that showed that the President stood for equity, justice and fairness.
They also said it showed Tinubu has a strong determination to run an all-inclusive administration that will give all tribes, religions and sections in the country high senses of belonging.
Addressing newsmen at the event, former spokesperson of PANDEF, Anab Sara-Igbe, said the law that established NDDC set the board and the management to stay for four years. Unfortunately, from inception till date, no board had been able to complete its tenure.
“That has greatly affected the commission in carrying out its mandate. Everybody will come and do his or her own and sometimes, the commission was used for political patronage and that was why the region agitated that a board should be set up for the commission to run fully.
“In 2022, the board was set with chief Samuel Ogboku as the Managing Director but unfortunately, the same thing happened. We are lucky this time the man was spared to stay and run the place with others.”
According to him, NDDC is a critical body and people fought for its establishment.
“This is the first time an activist who fought for the creation of NDDC was appointed to be the MD. Besides, he is from an oil producing community and therefore, he knows the impact of oil production, he knows the effect in the region for which this palliative was set up.
“He was the former Secretary General of the Ijaw Youths Congress (IYC). So, he has a grassroots relationship with most of the youths.
“The IYC cuts across Edo, Ondo, Bayelsa and Akwaibom and as the Secretary General, he has been to all the nooks and crannies of these region. He knows every part of the region. He knows that the region is down with the underdevelopment we have suffered, and that is the reason his choice was unanimously accepted and endorsed by all the Niger Delta leaders, women, youths and elders.”
“He is humble and relates with the youths, women groups, elders, chiefs and traditional rulers. So, such a person can run NDDC effectively.”
He added that if the NDDC boss was removed like the former way of leadership in few months or years, it would have affected the relationship between the federal government and the Niger Delta.
“So the President was wise enough to have taken this decision by ensuring that there is relationship between the Niger Delta Region and his Government because the economy of Nigeria is vested in the Niger Delta.
“If Niger Delta is working smoothly, then the economy of Nigeria will be strong. We are happy with the President and we are ready to give him the necessary support because he has reappointed one of us as the MD of the NDDC who knows the problem and the people.
“I think he can do better and all the fears of political patronage will not be there. He wants to put his name on gold for everybody to see. Niger Delta people can manage their affairs effectively and properly.”
The National President of the Niger Delta Nonviolence Agitators Forum, Wisdom Oniekpar Ikiluli, said that since the establishment of NDDC in 2000, this was one of the few moments that the people of the region felt sense of belonging because of the very strategic efforts of Chief Ogbuku, who has shown strong determination to change the negative narratives about the interventionist agency.
The strategic engagements and all-inclusive leadership style of Chief Ogbuku has resulted to the prevalent Peace and Security that has made the Niger Delta region the safest in the country and this has to be sustained.
“But very importantly, Ogbuku is from Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State where crude oil and gas were first discovered in commercial quantity and quality in 1956. Unfortunately, Ogbia is one of the most neglected and grossly underdeveloped areas in the country.
“It is ironical and unbelievable that this is the first time an Ogbia person has been appointed to head any of the interventionist agencies beginning from the Niger Delta Development Basin/Board to the Oil Mineral Producing Area Commission (OMPADEC) and now the NDDC.
The joint press conference was organized by Niger Delta Civil Action Advocacy Group, Niger Delta Civil Action Advocacy Group (NDCAAG) and the Association of Waterways Ambassadors of Nigeria (AWAN).
Others are Movement for Oil and Solid Minerals Producing Communities (MOSMPC), Coastal People Consultative Council (CPCC), South-South Community, Abuja (SSCA) and Niger Delta Nonviolence Agitators Forum (NDNAF).
Others are Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Abuja/Northern Nigeria Chapter, Southern People’s Foundation (SPF), Ijaw Wari Worldwide and Progressive Youth Leadership Foundation of Niger Delta (PYLF-ND)
