…As Imo Gov, Uzodimma advocates review of Niger Delta operation
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BY JENNIFER JOHN / OWERRI
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President Bola Tinubu has acknowledged the infrastructural decay and other challenges in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, promising that his government will make concerted effort to bring about infrastructural and economic transformation to the region.
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Tinubu made this assertion in his address, yesterday, at the ongoing 6th meeting of the National Council on Niger Delta, holding at Asaba, Delta State capital, with the theme: Stimulating Strategies for Economic Growth and Development in the Niger Delta Region.
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The President who was represented by the Minister of steel Development. Prince shuaibu Abubakar Audu said as part of effort to address the challenges of insecurity and under development in the Niger Delta region, his administration was committed to implementing projects and programmes geared towards addressing the diverse needs of the people, for sustainable growth and development.
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He said, to achieve the aim, his administration had widened the scope of the Ministry of Niger Delta Development, which led to the change of nomenclature from Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, to the Ministry of Niger Delta Development.
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According to the President, the Ministry will now be responsible for all policies, projects and programmes that are targeted at bringing the long expected development of the Niger Delta region to fruition.
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He said the federal government under his leadership places priority in completing the East-West road which he described as the largest single infrastructural project in the country, promising that the project will be delivered in the very nearest future
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In his address, Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma called for the review of the mode of operation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
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He said there is need for the review, to determine if there is need for amendment, modification or complete change of the mode of operation, as well as to ascertain whether the system being operated for over fifteen years was functional and productive.
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Uzodimma said it was the first time the NDDC stakeholders were having a conversation at the global level, with both critical and non critical stakeholders.
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He said the region had been having complaints against complaints with the federal government, but it is now time to begin a serious conversation, to define the real owners of the different intervention programmes for the region, and who the managers of the intervention is accountable to.
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He lamented that the region and the Commission has been operating a kind of adhoc programme, whereby every conversation at the national level that has to do with Niger Delta was about the East-West Road, which has lasted more than thirty years without being completed.
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“Why must we continue to carry on project that has no lifespan”, Uzodimma queried.
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He regretted that all monies mapped out to develop various sectors of the Niger Delta region was not being used for the purposes were not being used for the region development and transformation.
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The Imo State Governor, however encouraged the leadership of NDDC and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs to create more avenue for conversation, to carry out Needs Assessment on what the needs of various states in the region are and work towards the solution.
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Earlier in his address, Delta State Governor, Sheriff F. O. Oborevwori posited that intervention from the Commission is special in facilitating urban renewal, creating employment opportunities for the people, facilitating urban -rural integration and enabling general economic growth.
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He said the forum provided a veritable platform for states in the Niger Delta to focus on issues and challenges of common interest, develop a suitable arrangement for national prosperity, using the regions natural resources for inclusive growth and sustainable development.
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The governor appealed to the NDDC to take urgent steps to complete all ongoing and abandoned projects in the Niger Delta States.
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