The People of Niger Delta are disappointed in NDDC - Jonathan

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, told the new board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) that the people of Niger Delta are disappointed at the dismal performance of the commission over the years.

Inaugurating the board at the State House, Abuja, the president said he got all the blame for any failure of the commission, adding that henceforth, he would keep an eye on the activities of the board, to ensure it carried out its mandate to the people.

“I will really look at your activities clinically and I will not accept any aberration from the conventional and acceptable way of managing resources of the people,”  he said.

Noting his passion for the activities of the NDDC, the president remarked that the NDDC had deviated from its core mandate, adding that the former board was dissolved because members were quarelling over money that did not belong to them.

“The former board, at a time, had to be dissolved because, instead of the board to work with the management to make sure that people from the area benefit from the NDDC, they were busy quarreling over money. 

“But I just have to admonish you very clearly that there are so many issues about the NDDC. The Niger Delta people feel that the NDDC is not really doing what they are supposed to do over the period.

“A body like NDDC should not just go into a voyage of contracts procurement but ongoing projects must be completed before new ones are awarded, for people to benefit. There are just too many ongoing projects and we believe that you don’t even have enough manpower to manage them.

“If you aggregate the total amount of money the Federal Government has spent on this agency, it is enormous and I don’t believe that we have something to show very clearly on the ground,” he said.

He tasked the new members to be committed, so as to ensure that the people from the area benefited from the resources.

While calling on the governors in the NDDC states to meet regularly to keep a closer watch on the activities of the commission, Jonathan advised the chairman and members of the board to work together for its success.

Responding on behalf of other members, chairman, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, said the board was aware of the criticism trailing former members of the board, adding that his team would adopt new strategies to refocus the commission.

“We are actually aware of the criticisms that have trailed the performance of the commission for a number of years and we intend to do our best to change its image before the Nigerian people.

“By adopting a fresh approach and forging a new direction and focus, we hope to create a new more positive image for the commission,” he said.

He expressed the belief that the NDDC could become the veritable vehicle to uplift the standard of living of the people of the Niger Delta.