Ndoma-Egba: Violence, Militancy Not Options for N’Delta Development

As NDDC begins emergency repairs on East - West road

The Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba at the weekend declared that dialogue and not militancy remains the most suitable option that would lead to the overall development of the Niger Delta region.

Ndoma-Egba stated this on the sidelines of an interactive event by leaders and stakeholders from the region tagged ‘Dialogue in the Niger Delta’, held at the Tinapa international business resort, Calabar.

Fielding questions from journalists, the NDDC chairman said peace rather than militancy would encourage investments, and hasten infrastructural development in the region.

“Dialogue is a singsong for the region now so, we don’t miss any opportunity to emphasis the need for dialogue because we believe that violence, militancy, and hostility are no longer options.

“So, every opportunity to dialogue, we take it because we think that the region needs to be safe, needs to be secured, and needs to be peaceful for the much needed development to come in.

“In my remark, I made it very clear that militancy was no longer an option, that we must continue to explore option of dialogue, and the reason is simple; that we need investment in the region. Investments don’t go to hostile regions, and we must create a peaceful region that will be able to absolve the much needed investment, and we must bring the investors back. We can only do so when we commit to a peaceful atmosphere”, Ndoma-Egba said.

In stating that there was need for the implementation of a master plan for the development of the region, Ndoma-Egba said: “I don’t know whether there will be a new master plan or whether it is going to be an upgraded master plan or revalidated master plan, but we definitely need a master plan for the region…. We must have systematic plan for the development of the region, and that is what the master plan is for.

“We are at the point of identifying the stakeholders because the master plan must be stakeholders’ owned, stakeholders’ generated. So we are at the point of identifying the stakeholders, and coordinating the stakeholders so that work can immensely start. We at least, have sent out a template on what we need to achieve in the master plan”.

Ndoma-Egba said though the amnesty programme was not one of the primary responsibilities of the NDDC, however, it would cooperate with the agencies whose primary responsibility it was in driving the amnesty programme to success.

“The commission is not involved, per say, in the amnesty project. We are linked because we are all about interventions in the region to secure development, and to secure peace. The amnesty programme is a specific intervention to rehabilitate those who are involved in militancy, and get them back to productive life. So, it is an intervention programme that is separate from what we do, but to the extent that our activities affect the region, and we think that at some point, we have to collaborate.

Ndoma-Egba assured the people that though the current board of the NDDC was just six months in the saddle; they will deliver on their mandate because it is not “business as usual.”

Meanwhile, the NDDC has started emergency repairs on some of the failed portions of the East-West Road, especially the dilapidated sections between Eleme Junction and Onne Junction.