OWERRI – A former Chairman of Oguta Local Government Area of Imo, Mr Ethelbert Nnanna, has called for the de-centralisation of the operations of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Nnanna, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Owerri, said that decentralisation of the commission would enhance its operations.
He said that the NDDC had experienced low performance in its mandate to develop the Niger Delta because of centralisation of its operations resulting in abandonment of projects for years.
According to the former council boss, unless the commission’s operations are decentralised, it will continue to have abandoned projects.
“We have been hearing so much about NDDC initiatives; most of them are in papers and not actually felt by the targeted groups because of bureaucratic bottlenecks.
“Youth restiveness in the Niger Delta is caused by lack of infrastructure and empowerment.
“This should not happen when we have NDDC, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and state oil producing development commissions,’’ he said.
He said there was the need to review the existing laws of the commission so that it could positively impact on the people and reduce youth restiveness.
Nnanna said that technocrats and NGOs should be involved more than politicians in the operations of the commission.
“If this approach is not adopted, politicians will continue to frustrate the good intention of government in developing and empowering the people of Niger Delta region through the commission.
“When you look at the act establishing the NDDC, you will understand the reason there are many abandoned projects by the commission.
“Until these bottlenecks are cleared, we will continue to experience the problem,” he said.
Nnanna said it was sad that with the creation of the commission, and a ministry for the region, unemployment rate was so high in the area.
“It is an anathema for a region that lays the golden eggs to be living in squalor.
“Niger Delta is a region that feeds the entire nation, yet there is poverty everywhere in the region, the people are living in penury,’’ he said.
He said, for instance, that Oguta council area accounted for over 70 per cent of crude oil produced in Imo, but the area lacked infrastructure more than other parts of the state. (NAN)
