Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, is concluding arrangements to
commission and deliver the N24 billion Ogbia-Nembe Road, carved out of
deep mangrove forest and built in partnership with Shell Petroleum
Development Company, SPDC.
Acting Managing Director NDDC, Prof Nelson Brambaifa, disclosed this at
a special Niger Delta stakeholders’ interactive dinner in Port Harcourt.
The event was attended by prominent traditional rulers and stakeholders
in the region, as well as the Acting Executive Director Finance and
Administration, Dr Chris Amadi, and other NDDC directors.
Professor Brambaifa said that the project, covering about 29 kilometres
and with spurs to 14 other communities, “will open up the whole area for
renewed economic and agricultural growth.”
He said that the Commission continues to lay the foundation for building
a stronger partnership among stakeholders, to facilitate sustainable
regional development that will impact positively on the lives of the
people of the Niger Delta region.
The NDDC boss said that the Commission was committed to developing the
region, “built on the foundation of due process, job creation, skill
acquisition and social welfare, empowerment of the people and equitable
distribution of projects and programmes.”
He added: “We are also working on immediately, completing the Polaku
Bridge, on East-West-Opokuma –Sabagriea Road, linking Yenegoa to Kaiama
in Bayelsa State. Let me also mention the Abbi-Emu-Unor Road and Ibusa
internal roads, all in Delta State.”
Professor Brambaifa said that the Commission was committed to completing
projects across all the states of the region, and delivering them to the
people, stating that over 5,000 projects have so far been completed.
The NDDC chief executive said that the adoption of June 12 as democracy
day was significant for the people of the Niger Delta region, as it
showed that President Muhammadu Buhari recognized their long-running
struggle for emancipation.
He added: “We must hope that all the years, in which the Niger Delta
region has been victimized and neglected, are being recognized and
reversed. It means that slowly, but surely, the poverty,
underdevelopment, inequity and regional disregard that held sway will
give way to development, prosperity, stability and peace.”
The NDDC boss assured that the Commission would continue to work with
and depend on the advice of critical stakeholders in driving development
in the region. According to him, the Commission belonged to all the
stakeholders.
He stressed: “It belongs to the people of the Niger Delta and we fail
our people when we work alone, without collaborating with you all, at
all levels. And we cannot afford to fail. What we hold in trust is the
collective aspirations of our people and we will continue to work with
you, with our youths, with our women, with our traditional institutions,
with our democratic institutions, to make our region one that fulfills
our expectations and honours our dreams.”
The Chairman of the Traditional Rulers of Oil Mineral Producing
Communities of Nigeria, TROMPCON, Obong Dr Effiong Achianga, assured the
NDDC of the support of the royal fathers, noting that the Commission
needed counseling from its founding fathers.
He underlined the role played by the traditional rulers in the birth of
the Partnership for Sustainable Development (PSD) Forum, which he
observed had encouraged stakeholders’ participation in developing the
Niger Delta.
In his own remarks, the Amayanabo of Twon-Brass, King Alfred
Diete-Spiff, said the NDDC had taken the bull by the horn by inviting
all the stakeholders in the region to an interactive forum. He advised
that the youths of the region should be availed of relevant training to
ensure that they became assets for the region to keep them away from
violence.