NDDC targets completion of varsity hostels, other projects in oil region

THE INTERIM AD MINISTRATOR of the federal government quango, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Efiong Akwa, says the commission under his watch will focus on completing on-going projects, particularly the university hostels in the nine Niger Delta states. The hostels were begun by the commission since 2012 – 2014 in the states, but have sadly not been completed nearly a decade after.

Akwa, whose appointment as the commission’s interim administrator generated much controversy, led a team of directors from the commission to visit a foremost Niger Delta rights activist, Ann-Kio Briggs, in Port Harcourt, enumerated several interventions NDDC would focus on, especially on education, as the management committee identified education, agriculture and regional projects as top priority areas.

Meanwhile, stakeholders adduce that strong political intrigues around the quango, stand in the way of the interim management to scuttle the projects’ realization. Also, litigation on the manageENUGU tenure is another albatross.

But Akwa is pressing ahead with the plan saying that uncompleted projects, especially in the area of education, would be tackled expeditiously. “We have decided to complete all the university hostels we started in the nine states.

This is very important to help in addressing the problem of overcrowding at a time the world is battling with the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

He called for collaboration with critical stakeholders to drive the development process in the Niger Delta region. He said the commission would engage the oil region’s governors, traditional rulers and other stakeholders to ensure harmony in the execution of projects.

Akwa said the commission would step up its intervention in sectors, including regional roads. “We want to work with the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to complete the East-West Road. We will also initiate work on the dilapidated Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Works. In the area of shore protection, we will do our best to save our communities that are suffering from the effects of climate change,” he said.

According to him, on assumption of office, he noticed that there were quick things that needed to be fixed in the system such as working on the image of the NDDC that has been badly bruised over time; extra budgetary expenditure, to which he said he had to get in touch with the National Assembly leadership to defend its budget.

He said the commission now has a budget to run with and complete the activities for which the commission was set up.

He debunked popular notion that he was doing the job of a sole administrator. “There is nothing like that because within the NDDC, we have up to 47 directors that join hands with me to take decisions in the joint management meetings,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ann-Kio Briggs asked the interim administrator to support women of the region. She said women across the region were ready to support the interim management. She urged the NDDC boss to take measures to ensure that beneficiaries of its postgraduate foreign scholarship programme were not exposed to unnecessary hardship.