The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede, on Tuesday inaugurated two projects undertaken by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Bayelsa State.
They are the NDDC Renewed Hope 1,000-capacity Multipurpose Training Centre and Internally Displaced Persons Camp at Otupkpoti in Ogbia Local Government Area and the NDDC Bayelsa State Office in Yenagoa, the State capital.
Inaugurating the projects at Otuokpoti, Olukoyede noted with delight that the two projects being inaugurated were proceeds from recovered funds, which were returned to the NDDC.
He expressed satisfaction over the judicious utilisation of the funds, promising further release of more funds recovered from past administrations of the interventionist agency.
He said: “I have come to identify with this project and good governance in NDDC. I have come to identify with accountability and transparency, judicious use of resources which is within my mandate. By virtue of the recovery we have made, this NDDC project was made possible and other projects that are also in the offing.
“The NDDC Boss was able to convince me of the transformation he was bound to bring to NDDC, so what I’m seeing in the past two years has actually convinced me that this man knows what he is doing.”
The Managing Director, NDDC, Samuel Ogbuku, speaking at the commissioning of the Ultra-Modern Bayelsa State Office, disclosed that the Commission was willing to partner with state governments in any area that will benefit the people of the Niger Delta Region.
Ogbuku maintained that NDDC was not government but an interventionist agency in the Niger Delta Region.
He named the building after Chief Melford Okilo, the former Governor of old Rivers State, who was one of the people who fought for the existence of NDDC.
Ogbuku said: “I want to eulogise the support we have had from our various state governments who have partnered with us as a commission. For us, we are willing to partner with state governments in any area that will benefit the people of the Niger Delta.
“I have always said that NDDC is not a government but an interventionist agency in the Niger Delta Region. We will always achieve more if we partner with the state governments. We are celebrating the institutionalisation of NDDC in Bayelsa State.
“Today, we are commissioning a state-of-the-art edifice named after our great political leader and father, Chief Melford Okilo. This is Okilo House. We named it after Okilo because when NDDC was created, he was one of the people who drove it to the National Assembly.
Thanking Governor Douye Diri, he said: “Your Excellency, I want to thank you. I have thanked you before that you have given us every support we need as NDDC. I cannot go and say that you have not been supporting the board of NDDC. You have attended my programmes very well.
“This shows that in Bayelsa State, we are united for development. We are united for the purpose of peace and development of our people. Keep representing that peace which you represent.”
Governor Douye Diri, in his remarks, thanked NDDC for acquiring the edifice and called for more unity in the state, adding that “I want to believe that in this state, we are one and the same people. We are the only homogeneous Ijaw state in Nigeria.”
He said there are no other ethnic groups in Bayelsa State, maintaining that there was a need to support one another.
He said: “In Bayelsa, there are no other ethnic groups, it is only one ethnic group. We may have different clans, but we are all one and the same people.
“Politics should not divide us and tear us apart. Politics should be an avenue to attract development to Bayelsa State. Each of us, wherever we find ourselves, thinks of what you will attract to the state. It is a state that is in need of development, and I believe that the MD of NDDC and every other Bayelsan in any level you find yourself is doing and will continue to help to develop the state.”
Commenting on the IDP Camp commissioned at Otiokpoti, he commended NDDC and asked that it be replicated in all the local governments.
He said, “I’m grateful, that is a good project. That is a project that anyone from the state can ask, can we do that in all our local government areas, because we all know what happens annually when we have this perennial flood.
“Most times, our people are displaced, so if it were possible, this IDP camp would have been built virtually in all our local government areas. That intervention by NDDC is also key and very acceptable to the government of Bayelsa State.
“Generally, all of us from the Niger Delta have similar issues of flooding, erosion, pollution, and we must work hand in glove to ensure that our region is free of most of these challenges.”
He said that those challenges can be countered when there is unity.
“Those of us at the national, continue to look into the issues within your own space, working in partnership with other levels of government. There is no state governor who will not want a partner to work with.
“There is no state governor—rather, they are wooing national partners and international partners. Any state government that wants development must work with the federal government and with international organisations, and that is the only way to attract funding and other benefits to your state government.”
He maintained that is what Bayelsa State has set out to do under his watch.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for accepting to award for the second phase of the Nembe-Brass Road.
Also speaking, Abubakar Momoh, Minister for Regional Development, thanked Governor Douye Diri for always identifying with NDDC, adding that NDDC has never competed with any government.
He said: “Thank you, Your Excellency, for coming. That shows that NDDC and the governor are working together. I have always said that NDDC is not in competition with any tier of government, whether state or local government. Theirs is to intervene when there is a gap.
“Today, NDDC is in their permanent building. What that means is productivity.”
He defined Balde Igali as the next man to step into the shoes of late Edwin Clark.
