THOSE WHOSE HANDS ARE STAINED IN NDDC~Hon. U Itoro

Written by:

Hon. U Itoro

The Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC ) was established in June 2000 by the Obasanjo Administration with the mandate to bring accelerated development to the oil bearing States of the Niger Delta region.

In 2008, the Administration of then President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua established the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and made the NDDC which was already in existence a parastatal of that ministry with late Obong Uffot Joseph Ekaette as the pioneer Minister.

It is on record that NDDC was moved to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation . Curiously, no Niger Deltan has been Secretary to the Government of the Federation after late Obong Uffot Ekaette who served in that office during the Obasanjo Administration. So when the likes of Godsday Orubebe and Usaini Usaini served in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs as ministers at various times, it is unlikely that NDDC was under the ministry's supervision. It obviously remained in the office of the SGF.

But in October, 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari graciously extricated the NDDC from the Office of the SGF and annexed it to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. This came on the heels of appointment of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Minister of that Ministry.

Senator Godwill Akpabio the uncommon transformer took the mantle of leadership with the redeployment of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC ) by PMB to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to enhance the quality of life and improve the living standards of the people in the Niger Delta through coordinated and appropriate programmes".

Senator Akpabio being a round peg in a round hole was chosen to faithfully execute the vision. His record breaking service as Governor of Akwa Ibom State may have propelled his choice.

Since the appointment of Akpabio as minister and the knitting of NDDC to the Ministry of Niger Delta many things to our value system have taken place.

Let us examine one very important point to our collective sensibilities. And that is while NDDC was domiciled at the office of the SGF, all of us were content without any complaints. Even though the occupants of the office over time were not Niger Deltans, our people preferred them even when they knew nothing about our pains, challenges and our fears.

Those people kicking and calling on Mr President to revert to status-quo are the enemies of Niger Deltans the same body they enriched themselves with but pride, pomp and pageantry has taken whole of them. As the saying goes, no man can understand a people’s problem more than the people affected. Yet in our disparate upbringing, we prefer the outsider who knows little about us to our brother who knows our problems.

NDDC is known to be in existence for about two decades. During the period, about N15 trillion is said to have graced the coffers of the Commission. But NDDC has nothing tangible to show to justify this whopping and mind boggling sum, yet nobody raised a whimper. Corruption eat into the Agency for 20 years with everybody looking the other way. Advocates and anti-corruption crusaders were lulled into slumber and everything appeared good.

But in the last few months, the entire Nation is wide awake to all kinds of allegations of corruption involving first N40 billion as against N15 trillion just because change is set to visit the Commission. Many believe that the deafening noise is part of the resistance to the change that is being envisaged in the Agency. Those whose hands are in the cookie jar do not want to let go resulting in the fabrication of weighty allegations against those commissioned to exact the change.

Moreso, why are the allegations of corruption coming at the time of the investigation of the activities of the Agency? Where were these advocates before now? Is it a case of politics and elections come 2023 or a case of manifestation of the popular phrase, "corruption fighting back? I have reminisced over this incident but without answers to what is happening.

It is intriguing that of all the boards, agencies and commissions that either custody or are allocated huge resources of government, NDDC is the one singled out for negative and unwholesome publicity. Sadly, some of those behind these scandalous acts are from the Niger Delta. But daily, NDDC loses development time with all kinds of distraction. Are those at the helms of affairs in the other agencies beyond reproach? Why is NDDC getting this special attention it never had in the past 19 years? These are basic questions Nigerians should ask.

But it is without doubt that forensic audit is ongoing. Those whose hands are stained with the 19 years of waste do not want the audit to see the light of the day. They would do anything to scuttle it.

This is a tug of war between people who are willing to take the darts to protect the interest of the people and a few corrupt elites who want to sustain the status-quo.

As Niger Deltans, we must carefully choose where we stand in this war less we lose the chance of this liberation that is about to come through the leadership of Senator Godswill Akapbio.