The Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, has commissioned a new secretariat in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, naming it after former governor of old Rivers State, late Chief Melford Okilo saying that he fought for the establishment of NDDC.
Speaking on Tuesday in Yenagoa during the commissioning of the state office of the commission, Ogbuku maintained that NDDC was not created to take over the role of government but an interventionist agency mandated to fill in the gaps of government in the development in Niger Delta.
Ogbuku said: “I want to eulogise the supports we have had from our various state governments who have partnered with us as a commission. For us, we are willing to partner with state governments in any area that will benefit the people of the Niger Delta.
“I have always said that NDDC is not a government but an interventionist agency in the Niger Delta Region. We will always achieve more if we partner with the state governments. We are celebrating the institutionalisation of NNDC in Bayelsa State.
“Today we are commissioning a state of the arts edifice named after our great political leader and father, Chief Melford Okilo. This is Okilo house. We named it after Okilo because when NDDC was created, he was one of the people who drove it to the national Assembly.”
Thanking Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, he said: “Your Excellency, I want to thank you, I have thanked you before that you have given us every support we need as NDDC.
“I cannot go and say that you have not been supporting the board of NDDC. You have attended my programmes very well. This shows that Bayelsa State we are united for development.
“We are united for the purpose of peace and development of our people. Keep representing that peace which you represent.”
Speaking earlier, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State in his remarks thanked NDDC for acquiring the edifice.
He called for more unity in the state adding that he believes that in this state, and that the people of the state are one and the same, saying “we are the only homogeneous Ijaw state in Nigeria.”
He said there is no other ethnic groups in Bayelsa State maintaining that “we need to support one another. As united as we are, we should support one another.
He said: ” In Bayelsa there is no other ethnic groups, it is only one ethnic groups. We may have different clans but we are all one and the same people.
“Politics should not divide us and tear us apart. Politics should be an avenue to attract development to Bayelsa State. Each of us where we find ourselves, think of what you will attract to the state.
“It is a state that in need of development and I believe that the MD of NDDC and every other Bayelsan in any level you find yourself is doing and will continue to help to develop the state.”
Commenting on the IDP Camp commissioned at Otiokpoti, he commended NDDC and asked it should be replicated in all the Local Governments Councils.
He said: “I’m grateful that is a good project. That is a project that anyone from the state can ask, can we do that in all our local government areas because we all know what happens annually when we have this perennial flood.
“Most times, our people are displaced so if it were possible, this IDP camp would have been build virtually in all our local governments area. That intervention by NDDC is also key and very acceptable to the government of Bayelsa State.
“Generally all of us from the Niger Delta have similar issues of flooding, erosion, pollution and we must work hand in glove to ensure that our region is free of most of these challenges.
“Those of us at the national, continue to look into the issues within your one space working in partnership with other levels of government. There is no state Governor who will not want a partner to work with.
“There is no state Governor rather they are wooing national partners and international partners . Any state government that wants development must work with the federal government and with international organizations and that is the only way to attract funding and other benefits to your state government.”
He further commended president, Senator Bola Tinubu, for accepting to award the second phase of the Nembe Brass Road.
Also, Abubakar Momoh, Minister for a Regional Development thanked Senator Diri for always identifying with NDDC, adding that the NDDC is working hard to complete abandoned project with State governors.
He said: “Thank you your Excellency for coming, that shows that NDDC and the governor are working together. I have always said that NDDC is not in competition with any tier of government whether state or locale government. Theirs is to intervene when there is gap.
“Today NDDC is in their permanent building, what that means is productivity. Balode Igali is the next man to step into the shoes of late Edwin Clark.”
Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Olanipekun Olukoyede in his remarks thanked NDDC for the judicious use of the resources made available to them.
He said: “I have come to identify with this project and good Governance in NDDC I have come to identify with accountability and transparency, judicous use of resources which is within my mandate.
“By virtue of the recovery we have made, this NDDC project was made posible and other projects that are also in the offing.
“The NDDC Boss was able to convince me of the transformation he was bound to bring to NDDC, so what I’m seeing in the past two years have actually convinced me that this man knows what he is doing.”
ALSO READ TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then