NDDC: East-West road nears completion, presidential monitoring committee says

The agitation in the Niger Delta against environmental degradation caused by oil companies and the resulting impoverishment of the people of the region led to the creation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in 2001.

The agency is saddled with the responsibility of redressing the historical neglect to which the oil and gas-rich region had been subjected by successive governments since independence.

Unfortunately, the hope that the intervention of the NDDC would change the fortune of the Niger Deltans has not been fulfilled due to the poor leadership of the agency.

However, since the appointment of Senator Godswill Akpabio as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs in 2019, things have started changing for the better.

The former governor of Akwa Ibom State met a litany of abandoned projects, including even at the headquarters of the Commission in Port Harcourt, which has meanwhile been completed.

Senator Akpabio brought his trademark dynamism to bear on his new assignment, breathing new life into the NDDC, Anthony Ekene Onwuka, Special Assistant, Project Monitoring and Special Duties, Presidential Monitoring Committee on the NDDC, said.

The Presidential Monitoring Committee, constituted by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2020, is chaired by Chief Akpabio.

Speaking to Nigerian Tribune, Prince Onwuka, a Germany-based lawyer and international project consultant, described Akpabio as an uncommon leader. “No wonder, the Commission has recorded landmark achievements in the last few months of his leadership,” he added.

Onwuka praised the minister for his determination to ensure that the NDDC delivers on its mandate to the benefit of the people of the long-suffering region.

“One of the potent instruments of enhancing quality and steady delivery of NDDC projects was the constitution of the Presidential Monitoring Committee,” Onwuka said.

“The Committee is saddled with the monitoring and inspection of projects across all the nine component states of the NDDC” and reports to President Buhari via the chairman of the Committee.

The Special Assistant further explained that the working of the committee, which he says, “has been up and doing in relation to its mandate  engaged contractors who have taken their jobs seriously more than ever before and are moving in the right direction.”

Onwuka revealed that contractors were taking their assignment more seriously as most of the projects inspected were being implemented with increased tempo.

Among these projects are those connected to the East-West road, a major economic and social corridor linking several states in the oil-rich region.

A new general progress report of the Presidential Monitoring Committee on the East-West Road, (Sec IV) covering bridge works and dualisation of the Onna/Eket-Oron road and the Eket Bypass (Dual Carriageway) in Akwa Ibom State, gives a pass mark to the contractors handling the various projects.

“Interestingly, these projects were awarded in September 2006 with a commencement date of October 2006 and completion date of April 2011 as contracted. However, due to lack of sincere commitment, the projects were abandoned until the appointment of Senator Akpabio,” Onwuka said.

According to him, “as an uncommon emancipator, Senator Akpabio has within a period of 20 months, ensured the rapid implementation of the contract to 94.82 per cent completion.

“The people of the region are grateful to the leadership of President Buhari, who has shown commitment to inaugurate the road by the second quarter of 2022.”

Onwuka, appealed for peace, stakeholders support for his boss and further described the project as an eye opener to the monumental breakthrough that the NDDC and Ministry of Niger Delta are bringing into the region.

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