• Decries poor development in Niger Delta
Chairman, Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Lauretta Onochie, has expressed displeasure with the zero impact of the Commission on the region, despite huge resources injected into it.
She described the situation as very shameful, disappointing to the region and to the nation at large. Onochie, who stated this yesterday while addressing the management and staff of the commission at her resumption at its headquarters office in Port Harcourt disclosed that monies meant for NDDC and, by extension the development of Niger Delta, was squandered in Abuja, Lagos, United Kingdom, Dubai, among other places by people, whose responsibility it was to develop the region, thereby impoverishing people of the region.
“Today is a historic day. I’m not just for the people of Niger Delta but for the women of Nigeria. And being a historic day, we have a lot of things going on today.
“Like the MD had earlier said a lot I would have loved to say, but let me remind us why we are here. This (NDDC) is an organisation, a commission that was commissioned specifically for the people of Niger Delta. It is an interventionist agency that is supposed to bring about prosperity; it is supposed to bring development in our region.
“This organisation was set up in the year 2000. And, if you go round the Niger Delta till date, there is little or nothing to show for it. NDDC has been a shame of the Niger Delta and a shame of our nation. For President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has been determined to turn things around.
“As I said yesterday, at our inauguration, he (Buhari) never does things in his own interest. Everything he does, he does in the interest of Nigerians. And this board you see here represents that interest.
“We are here to reposition NDDC. We are here to serve people of the Niger Delta and, by extension, the people of Nigeria. We are here to do things differently.”
Earlier, the new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of the Commission, Samuel Ogbuku, said witnessing the official handover from the outgoing Managing Director to his successor was, in deed, a historic day.
“Well, as a board that has just officially resumed today at the NDDC headquarters, I want to first of all assure you we are not to antagonise anybody. We are here to also depend on your experience. NDDC administration needs experience. We need your support; we need your cooperation.”
The new MD/CEO said an enabling working environment would be provided for the staff for them to demonstrate their commitment.