By: Tino Kevwe
Joseph Ambakederimo made the disclosure Tuesday August 15 on the occasion of his 62nd birthday held at Enerhen road, Uvwie LGA near Warri, Delta, while speaking on state on what he titled state of the nation where he normally uses the opportunity to address Nigeria on topical issues affecting the nation.
On this year 2023 marking the 62,nd birthday, Joseph Ambakederimo in his breakfast media chat with Select-Joutnalists, is advocating for the stoppage of too much political interference in the NDDC in order for it to be free from the political bondage and function optimally for the good of the Niger Delta States.
The birthday celebrant also urged the Federal government to allow the present Management of the NDDC led by Dr. Samuel Ogbuku to complete their term without removal , adding that removing them is always truncating the NDDC from having progressive leadership just like the steady progress recorded during the time of Timi Alaibe whereby the commission achieved a lot during their time, appealing for Sam Ogbuku to stay and give same development direction.
He described the forensic audit of the operations of the NDDC initiated by the former Minister of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, of recording few gains apart from , succeeding primarily in erasing any form of citizen’s confidence in the commission.
“The commission has to its credit, long list of projects completed and ongoing in the region. There are roads that have cut through Virgin forests, bridges built to access the remotest hamlets in far flung creeks, electricity and portable water provided, landing jetties provided, human capital development achieved and many more. The present leadership has also shown the readiness to build on these achievements going by the pronouncement of the policy direction of Dr. Samuel Ogbuku in cultivating the public private partnership initiative to bring about the crystalization of actionable programme of the NDDC.
“The misconception is simple, the drumming of the failure of the commission which could either be political or pecuniary, has stifled whatever achievements it has recorded”.
According to Joseph Ambakederimo in his terse which read in parts:, “The greatest disservice that has happened to the NDDC is the political interference in the affairs of the commission. The political interference is responsible for the high turnover of appointment of officials to oversee the workings of the commission and this hasn’t gone down well as it impacts negetively on the performance of even persons who may have the will power to bring positive change to the region, because they are been removed when they are almost getting set to seat properly to work.
“Therefore in this circumstance how would one hold anyone to account for it’s stewardship.This must be looked into by President Bola Tinubu to ensure that appointed persons must serve out their tenure and this has to start with the present management team headed by Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, so that a clear cut demonstration of seriousness on the part of government can be seen by the people. The record has to be set straight, the people should be convinced beyond reasonable doubt with proof of the will power on the part of government to do things differently this time around.
“Another issue that has to be touched is the funding of the commission taking into cognizance the present economic realities on ground. We will advocate more funding should be made available to the commission for it to meet the ever increasing demands of the oil producing communities. Amounts that are in excess of Three Trillion are short remitted to the NDDC by the Federal government. The Federal government is hereby urged to show magnanimity and release these funds to the commission as soon as possible.
Section 14 sub section 2 (a) – (c) of the Act establishing the commission clearly states how the commission shall be funded amongst others.
RECOMMENDATIONS :
1. Political interference should be curtailed to stem the high turnover of appointment of the members of the board of management. If this is not discouraged then at what point do we now hold people to account. Therefore it is my considered opinion that this present management team is allowed to continue to hold sway so that we can begin to hold them to account. Anything short of this becomes counterproductive to the development of the oil producing areas. At this point, President Bola Tinubu is urged to stay the course on this matter of allowing this management team headed by Dr. Samuel Ogbuku to continue to complete it’s tenure and only appoint the Board to complement the efforts of the management team.
2. The fifteen percent contribution from the Federal government has become inadequate therefore we are calling on the President to immediately send an executive bill for the amendment of relevant sections of the NDDC establishment Act to increase it’s share of contribution to 25%.
3. The 3% contribution from the oil and gas companies increased to 10%.
4. Ecological fund should be increased to 70%
5. An appreciable percentage of gas flare charge should be paid to the NDDC.
6. NDDC should be considered to benefit from the recent and future windfall of revenue shared to various entities by the Federal government.
We call for all of these recommendations because it is the NDDC that reaches the remotest communities that produces oil and gas that fuels the Nigerian economy. These communities bears the brunt of ecological deverstation therefore more funds should be ceded to the NDDC to continue to provide infrastructure and a better life to the inhabitants of these communities.
“We hope that the recommendations should be looked at critically and attended to without bias as a result of the present economic realities.”He stressed..
