Okowa urges Buhari to reconstitute NDDC board, says instability caused commission’s failure

The Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, on Saturday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to reconstitute the Board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Okowa, who made the call at the launch of a book titled: “Resource Dependence, Violent Conflict and Economic Development in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria,” and written by the Chairman of Warri South local government area of the state, Dr. Michael Tidi, said the instability in the NDDC board contributed to the commission’s systemic failure.

He urged the president to put in place an NDDC board that would be accountable to the people of Niger Delta and eliminate politicisation of the agency.

The governor said: “I am not happy when I see the type of projects embarked upon by the NDDC in recent times. They ought to embark on inter-regional projects and also build major roads that connect one part of a state to another and not one kilometer of roads as the case may be.”

Okowa, who is the Chairman of South-South Governors’ Forum, made the call in Asaba, also urged the Federal Government to empower the ex-Niger Delta militants with skill acquisition and set them up as real entrepreneurs.

He decried the attitude of some persons saddled with the management of NDDC and other programmes established for the development of the Niger Delta.

READ ALSO: NDDC: South-South governors back forensic audit of commission

“Unfortunately, some of our people when appointed, they go there for the wrong reasons. It is imperative that we appoint people that can be held accountable for their actions during their tenure.

“There is a need to develop the Amnesty Programme to become sustainable so that the people can benefit from it. We have truly started up by trying to solve the problem at the foundation stage without building them up to become self-reliant.

“Our people must realise that we cannot continue to play politics with what we say or do. Recently in Port Harcourt, we called for resource control and restructuring because the constitution as it is now, cannot develop the country,” he added.

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