NDDC’ll partner NBA on peace-building in Niger Delta ―Chairman

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has declared its readiness to collaborate with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Niger Delta Task Force to build peace and resolve conflicts in the Niger Delta region.

Chairman of the NDDC Governing Board, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), said this when members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Niger Delta Task Force paid him a courtesy visit in his office Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday.

Noting that the challenge of development in the Niger Delta was peace-related, he said, “The challenge of peace in the Niger Delta is a challenge of development because for us to have development in this region, which is urgently needed and very highly needed, we need to have peace. In achieving that peace we are ready to engage with everybody to ensure that peace returns to this region.”

Senator Ndoma-Egba said the Federal Government had, in the last few months, demonstrated its desire to address the concerns in the region and commended the initiatives led by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, who he said had shown a lot of new zeal by making several visits and promises in the region.

According to him, the new initiatives were a demonstration of good faith on the part of President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to the people of the Niger Delta.

The NDDC chairman noted that it would be difficult to develop the Niger Delta without an integrated plan, adding, “No region or country develops without a plan, So, for the current board, the challenge is either to revalidate, or upgrade, or come up with a new master plan, because the indices used in the previous plan are no longer valid today.”

He stated that the Niger Delta Regional Development Master plan, which was launched in 2007, with a life span of 15 years, was almost coming to an end. The carefully crafted master plan, he regretted, was abandoned almost as soon as it was launched.

“We are determined to do the needful and fortunately we have received a lot of interests from partners, the European Union, the United States Government and the Government of Germany to support us in either revalidating, updating, upgrading or coming up with a new plan. But that plan is imperative if we must develop in a consistent and sustainable manner”, he said.

He re-stated the resolve of the NDDC Governing Board to return the commission to its original mandate of “being a regional devolvement agency to create an integrated economy for the region”, noting that the public perception of the commission was not one of a regional development agency but one of a contract awarding factory.

Mr Albert Akpomudje (SAN), the Chairman NBA Niger Delta Task Force, said the association would not fold it arms and watch while the Niger Delta region was being torn apart by crises.

He said NBA deemed it necessary to set up the Niger Delta Task Force to assist all stakeholders in collaboration with the various tiers of government in bringing to an end the crisis that had plagued the region.

The NBA task force chairman said that one of the 11-point terms of reference of his group was to “determine if the Niger Delta Development Commission Act should be amended to reflect and deal with current constraints in the areas of funding and to include all companies involved in all aspects of oil and gas enterprise within the funding arrangement with appropriate sanctions for