By Emeka Amaefula
ENGR. EMMANUEL AUDU-OHWAVBORUA HANDS OVER AS NDDC BOARD ASSUMES OFFICE, PROMISES BETTER DAYS
The newly inaugurated Governing Board of Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC with Mrs. Laurette Onochie as Chairman, on the 4th of January, 2023 took over the affairs of the interventionist agency from the Acting Managing Director Engr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua.
The exchange of baton of leadership took place at the NDDC Headquarters Port Harcourt as the chairman of the governing board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Mrs. Lauretta Onochie, assured that the new leadership in the commission will work to impact positively on the lives of the people of the Niger Delta REGION.
At her first meeting with management and staff of the Commission at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Mrs. Onochie stated that “it is imperative to chart a new course for the NDDC, different from what obtained in the past.We are here to do things differently. We have to work with new ideas to be able to achieve the objective of fast-tracking the development of the Niger Delta region. The NDDC was established specifically for the people of the Niger Delta region. As an interventionist agency, it is meant to bring prosperity to the Niger Delta region. We are here to serve the people of the region and by extension serve Nigeria. We are here to reposition the NDDC.”
The Chairman of the Board at the interactive meeting informed the workers and management staff that President Muhammadu Buhari is anxious to reposition the NDDC to ensuring that it worked in the interest of the people of the region. To give effect to this, she said that members of the Board under her leadership would “work as a team committed to that vision.”. And with much enthusiasm she observed that “Our interest is to improve the lives of Niger Delta people. The monies meant for the development of the Niger Delta must be used for the region.”
The NDDC Managing Director, Chief Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, while speaking at the meeting he felicities with President Muhammadu Buhari for inaugurating the NDDC Board and pledged that the members were committed to the development of the Niger Delta region.
Giving the factors that maligned the progress of the interventionist Agency in the past, Ogbuku stated that the NDDC Governing Board will not seek to antagonize anyone or any group, but would tap from the vast experiences of the NDDC staff and all stakeholders. The NDDC Governing Board, he said, will create an environment for creativity and ingenuity to flourish in the Commission, in order to achieve its mandate. “I want to assure you that we are not here to antagonize anybody. We are here to depend on your experience. We need your cooperation, we need your support. You need an enabling environment to showcase your ingenuity. You are well trained and experienced to give the people of the Niger Delta region the best,” he stated.
Ogbuku commended the leadership of the former Acting Managing Director, Engineer Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua for guiding the NDDC through a crisis-free period.
In a Press statement by Ibitoye Abosede Director, Corporate Affairs NDDC, while the outgoing Acting Managing Director, Audu-Ohwavborua while presenting his handover note, said that during his brief tenure in office, the NDDC intervened to rehabilitate the flood ravaged areas of the East-West road, “to make the road motorable and provided palliatives for victims of the flood disaster in all the nine mandate states in the Niger Delta region.” He said the Commission’s 2021 and 2022 Budget was awaiting approval from the Presidency while over one thousand uncompleted projects spread across the nine mandate States of the Niger Delta region were cancelled during his two-month tenure.
The management of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC has been in turmoil in the past few years until President Muhammadu Buhari set up the Newly inaugurated Management Board with Mrs. Lauretta Onochie as Chairman.
———-Emeka Amaefula—————+234(0)8111813069
