The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission,<\/p>\n
NDDC, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, has called on oil companies under the umbrella
\nof the Oil Producers Trade Section, OPTS, to improve on their
\ncontributions to the funding of the interventionist agency.<\/p>\n
Mrs Semenitari made the call when members of the NDDC\/OPTS Working Level
\nCommittee paid her a courtesy visit at the Commission\u2019s headquarters in
\nPort Harcourt. She asked for a substantial compliance from the oil
\ncompanies to enhance service delivery to the various communities.<\/p>\n
The NDDC boss stressed the importance of partnership in achieving greater
\nresults. She stated: \u201cWith partnerships, we are more impactful. When we
\nagree on key issues affecting the communities where you operate, then you
\nfind that we will not dissipate energies. It helps us to pull resources
\ntogether to deliver on projects that touch the lives of people in the
\ncommunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs. Semenitari said that it was the responsibility of the NDDC to deliver
\ndevelopment to the communities, noting that it was in the interest of both
\nthe Commission and the oil companies to develop the communities. \u201cThat is
\nwhy we would support the OPTS leaders to immediately re-activate the
\nmeeting of the Chief Executive Officers of the group to discuss issues
\nthat affect the region. We have to make the region functional for every
\nstakeholder,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn all the things we do this year, we will be looking at stronger
\npartnerships in service delivery. That is why we will come back to OPTS to
\ntalk about critical projects. Now, we are concluding work on the
\nOgbia-Nembe Road. That road is supposed to extend to Brass. So, we must
\nbegin to talk about the Nembe-Brass Road early enough. For this project,
\nwe have to talk to several communities in one fell swoop. Again, it gives
\nyou the combined benefit of community social responsibility because you
\nhave something to show the communities to get their support. It will be
\neasier because all of us will be pulling resources together.\u201d
\nMrs Semenitari said that unlike the Ogbia-Nembe Road that was between the
\nNDDC and Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, the Nembe-Brass
\nsection would involve more stakeholders such as AGIP and the Bayelsa State
\nGovernment. \u201cAGIP will have to come in because they have a lot more
\noperations in that axis. We will also have meetings with the Bayelsa State
\ngovernment to make commitments even if they don\u2019t put money on the table,\u201d
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we pull our resources together, it will be a win-win situation for all
\nparties. That is why the meeting at the executive level is very critical
\nbecause it will give us the opportunity to agree on how to drive the
\nprocess. There are other important projects that can change the lives of
\npeople in the communities. We need to work out the strategies to deliver
\non these projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Mrs Semenitari, the Ogoni clean-up exercise was one issue
\nthat required attention at this time and that she expected critical
\nstakeholders to show greater responsibility towards the environment. She
\nsaid it was encouraging that the IOCs and various governments were
\nbeginning to show understanding that a clean environment was important.<\/p>\n
Mrs Semenitari advised the oil companies to show more commitment in the
\neffort to find greener ways of doing business, adding that oil companies
\nwere doing it in other parts of the world and should, therefor, not have
\ndifferent standards for Nigeria.<\/p>\n
The Chairman of the NDDC\/OPTS Working Level Committee, Mr Ibitoye Abosede,
\nsaid the partnership with OPTS was an effective way of building community
\ncapacity for sustainable development, adding that it connects with the
\ngrassroots for whom the NDDC was established.<\/p>\n
Mr Abosede, who is also the NDDC Director, Community and Rural
\nDevelopment, stated that in today\u2019s world, the dynamics that shape
\nrelations between partners were informed by more complex issues than was
\ntraditionally the case.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWithout exception, the development strategies of agencies in
\ntoday\u2019s world must consider issues of partnerships, shared ideas,
\ntechnology, synergies, energies, alliances, economic considerations,
\npolitical stability and predictability of quality of leadership and best
\npractices.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NDDC director explained that the objectives of OPTS included assisting
\nin mobilising resources and creating a platform for a prosperous region,
\nas well as embarking on joint inspection of projects executed by NDDC and
\nthe International Oil Companies, IOC\u2019s.<\/p>\n
He assured that the NDDC\/OPTS framework would continue to advise on such
\nactivities that would reduce youth restiveness, vandalism and conflict in
\nthe Niger Delta Region.<\/p>\n
The Co-Chairman of the NDDC\/OPTS Working Level Committee and a
\nrepresentative of oil companies, Mr Taribo Yellow, thanked the NDDC for
\nits contributions to improving infrastructure for the communities in
\nNigeria\u2019s oil-rich region. He stressed the need to regularise the
\nexecutive level meeting of OPTS; it was the platform for mapping out
\npolicies. \u201cWe will be very glad if that meeting could be re-activated to
\nenhance the synergy between the Commission and the oil companies,\u201d he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Mr Yellow, a staff of Chevron, commended the NDDC for the various projects
\nit had executed but said that the OPTS would be glad to be part of the
\ncommissioning of the projects so that the communities would also see the
\nface of the other stakeholders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, has called on oil companies under the umbrella of the Oil Producers Trade Section, OPTS, to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n