How N’Deltans Can Help Buhari Develop Region – Senator Ndoma- Egba

CHAIRMAN, Niger Delta Development
Commission, NDDC, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba,
spoke to Saturday Vanguard on the rot that
bedeviled the commission and what the new board
under his leadership and management is doing to
give it a new lease of life. By Emmanuel Unah As Chairman and link between the Board and the
Federal Government, what are your strategies and
vision for NDDC to achieve its mandate? My vision for and of the NDDC is returning it to its
original mandate of being the driver for an
integrated though diversified regional economy.
When President Olusegun Obasanjo launched the
Niger Delta Master Plan on 7th March, 2007, 10 full
years ago, he captured the essence of the arrangement as a “plan to facilitate the rapid, even
and sustainable development of the Niger Delta
region into an economically prosperous, socially
stable, ecologically regenerative and politically
peaceful area”. Ndoma-Egba That vision remains as valid as it was then as it is
now. It is regrettable that the region has become
even more turbulent and more underdeveloped
than when the master plan was launched, clearly
because it was abandoned after all the fanfare that
attended its launching in 2007. From its inauguration, the master plan is anchored
on a stakeholder-generated and owned strategy.
The stakeholders, which include the governors,
the members of the state Houses of Assembly, staff,
traditional rulers, oil companies, youths (including
the agitators), women, the disabled, environmental right activists, etc have to be transparently and
strategically engaged. By efficiently collaborating with these bodies, the
commission becomes an actual development
agency instead of its present perception as a
contract awarding commission. Also, private sector
will be encouraged to participate in the various
developmental activities while development partners will be engaged to ensure delivery of
relevant projects.