Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State says his government is<\/p>\n
ready to partner with the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in
\nbuilding the proposed road and bridge linking Nembe to Brass. It is
\nestimated to cost about N100 billion.<\/p>\n
Governor Dickson made the pledge yesterday when the NDDC Acting Managing
\nDirector, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, led other directors of the Commission to
\npay him a courtesy visit at Government House, Yenagoa.<\/p>\n
The road and bridge project is the second phase of the Ogbia-Nembe Road,
\nwhich the NDDC is implementing in partnership with the Shell Petroleum
\nDevelopment Company, SPDC. Governor Dickson stated that it had
\ndemonstrated the value of partnership in the development of the Niger
\nDelta region.<\/p>\n
While commending NDDC on its plans to extend the road to Brass, the
\nGovernor expressed delight at the Ogbia-Nembe road project which is
\nopening up 14 communities on its stretch to economic activities and modern
\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe are sad that Brass is still cut off from the rest of Nigeria.
\nFor us in Bayelsa, our wealth is in the sea. This project will attract new
\nbusiness and link Brass to the rest of Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hon. Dickson stated that the challenging terrain of the state was not
\nsufficient reason for the non-performance of some contractors working on
\nNDDC projects, a situation which he said left \u201ca litany of abandoned NDDC
\nprojects in Bayelsa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Governor Dickson also commended the contributions of the NDDC in boosting
\nagricultural development in the Niger Delta, stating that the future of
\nNigeria would be determined by its investments in agriculture.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will soon become a major hub for agriculture in the country,\u201d he
\nstated, adding: \u201cAlready we are setting up a school to train our youths in
\nagriculture and we are going towards state-owned farms. We can partner
\nwith NDDC on rice cultivation and aquaculture because this is where we
\nhave comparative advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Governor Dickson regretted the killing of two soldiers at the site of the
\nOgbia-Nembe Road and assured that more efforts would be made to forestall
\nfuture occurrence. He said that the state would need the support of the
\nNDDC in that regard.<\/p>\n
Earlier in her presentation, Mrs. Semenitari told Governor Dickson that
\nthe NDDC awarded 28 Regional Projects, with 20 ongoing, while two had been
\ncompleted and commissioned. She said that a total of 658 other projects
\nhad also been awarded for shore protection, construction\/repair of roads,
\nsand-filling, construction of jetty, electrification, building of houses
\nfor professionals and solar water.<\/p>\n
In addition, she said, NDDC is constructing the Akenfa Bridge awarded at a
\ncost of N800, 993, 396.31, the prototype university hostel at the Niger
\nDelta University, Amassoma and internal roads network (Phase 1) at the
\nFederal University of Technology, Otuoke. Other areas of intervention, she
\nsaid, included the award of overseas scholarship for graduates from
\nBayelsa State.<\/p>\n
According to Mrs. Semenitari, \u201cBayelsa had not been left out. Today, we
\nshall be boosting agriculture and food production in Bayelsa with the
\nhanding over of tractors to stakeholder farmers in the state. In NDDC, we
\nbelieve that food security is critical to national security. We are doing
\nthis to expedite massive food production in Bayelsa State and the Niger
\nDelta region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can beat our chest and say that NDDC has treated Bayelsa as a \u2018Special
\nArea\u2019. The biggest, single, most ambitious project ever undertaken by NDDC
\nsince its inception is cited in Bayelsa. The Ogbia-Nembe Road, which is
\nlinking and opening-up about 14 communities in Bayelsa to development, is
\na mega-project which first phase had been scheduled for commissioning this
\nmonth, April.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a worthy collaboration between NDDC and SPDC, and is the result of
\nwhat we can achieve when we work in partnership with development agencies,
\nIOCs and State Governments. That road project is one of the Commission\u2019s
\nprescriptions for the rapid development of the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NDDC boss expressed regrets that the laudable project had become a
\nvictim of misguided actions by some youths from the region. She noted that
\ngunmen had on Tuesday, April 5, killed 2 soldiers and kidnapped an
\nexpatriate worker, forcing SETRACO, the contractor handling the project to
\nsuspend work on the project.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI have condemned that attack which is reactionary and opposed
\nto the agenda of NDDC in siting that road. It is equally anti-Ijaw and
\nnegates what Ijaw hero, Isaac Adaka Boro, and other Ijaw leaders fought
\nfor. It is entirely against the spirit and letter of the Kaiama
\nDeclaration of December 11, 1998 committed to by Ijaw youths.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sad and unfortunate attack against Bayelsa State progress is
\nunacceptable and must be condemned by all well-meaning members of the
\npublic, as well as all stakeholders in the Niger Delta region and beyond.
\nI was truly saddened that lives were so brutally taken in the course of
\nour effort to bring development to the Niger Delta region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ogbia \u2013 Nembe road, which is a major project in NDDC\u2019s calendar, is
\nenvisioned to improve commerce, reduce incidents of piracy and criminal
\nacts such as this, and improve the living conditions of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs. Semenitari stated that the business of facilitating the sustainable
\ndevelopment of the Niger Delta could not be conducted in in an insecure
\nenvironment, adding that criminal elements should not be allowed to be a
\nclog in the wheel of progress.<\/p>\n
She urged the Bayelsa State Government to assist the NDDC to galvanise the
\nlocal population to resist those who want to keep them behind the 21st
\nCentury. \u201cWe invite Civil Society Organisations and other Community Based
\nOrganisations to launch advocacy that will alter the thought process of
\nthese misguided youths,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State says his government is ready to partner with the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in building the proposed road and bridge linking Nembe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n