NDDC: AN INTERVENTIONIST AGENCY ON TRIAL

BY ANAYO ONUKWUGHA

Few days ago, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan bowed to public opinion with the dissolution of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

In a statement signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, the president said the sack was predicated on the recommendation of the presidential committee set up to investigate the spiral of allegations against the commission.

The committee was headed by the immediate past Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Steven Orosanye. Anyim also instructed the Managing Director (MD), Mr. Chibuzor Ugwuoha and other executive directors to handover the commission’s items in their custody to the Director of Administration and Human Resources, Mrs Osato Areyenka.

The NDDC was established in 2002 by the then president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to serve as a catalyst for the development of the Niger Delta region, whose environment had been adversely polluted as a result of oil exploration and exploitation.

Unfortunately, since its inception, the interventionist agency has not met the expectations of the people of the nine states that make up the Niger Delta region especially in the areas of infrastructure and human capital development.

In all instances the management and the board had connived to salt away the resources that should have been used to develop the region.

But that honey moon seemed to have ended with the feud between the NDDC board headed by former Air Vice Marshal Larry Koinyan and the MD.

The NDDC board had in November, 2010 written a petition to the federal government accusing the MD of opening a foreign account with First Bank Plc, United Kingdom and transferring mind-boggling amounts into same account without authorisation of the board and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF).

This and many other allegations necessitated the setting up of a committee headed by Oronsaye.

The committee which was inaugurated on July 27 this year was mandated to investigate all the allegations levelled against the management and make recommendations on the way forward.

Radical lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, Mr. B. O. N. Otti, a representative of the Bureau for Public Procurement, and Senator Bassey Ewa- Henshaw are members.

Other members are, Mr. Ishaq Yahaya. Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim, Mr. Raymond Brown and Dr. Timiebi Koripamo- Agary.

The committee report reads in parts: ‘‘that the MD proceeded to open a new account with First Bank Plc, in the United Kingdom without the approval from the board and with fictitious board resolution…’’ Ugwuoha claimed that he took the solo decision because NDDC bank in the UK ( Union Bank) was weak.

He said he opened a foreign account and transferred the monies into same because he wanted to be proactive so that the commission would not lose funds if the bank eventually crumbles the way Societe Generale Bank went.

But the committee is of the view that the MD had sufficient time to seek approval from the board before opening the account.

It was learnt that Oronsaye and his team were also shocked that in spite of the controversy generated by the foreign account, the MD still went ahead to transfer $37 million out of Union Bank, United Kingdom into the notorious account.

In fact the MD opened the account without the approval of the AGF. According to the report, the MD, having realized that he ran foul of the law got approval for the transaction from the AGF office in December 2010 for the offshore account that was actually opened in September of same year.

The committee position is that the purported approval given by the AGF was illegal, null and void having contravened Section 701 of the Federal Government Financial Regulations.

The panel discovered that while $20 million was withdrawn from the ailing Union Bank, a sum of $58 million was left in the same sinking Union Bank.

The report revealed that no interest has been credited to the NDDC from September 2010, when the account was opened to date.

Besides, the panel it was learnt established that the transfer of another $37 million to the contentious First Bank UK offshore account bringing the total funds in the account to $57 million.

Furthermore, our sources in the Presidency stated that infraction of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) was established in the award of over 500 contracts worth over N120 billion, without budgetary provision.

The panel also discovered the award of consultancy service contract of about N27 billion, out of which N4.7 billion has been released to the contractor.

Also two executive directors were indicted over a transaction that amounted to $80 million.

The embattled Ugwuoha seemed unrepentant in his reaction to the report of the committee.

He said people are calling for his head because he sanitised NDDC.

‘‘Everybody wants business as usual. Once you deviate from what is known, even if it will bring the very best result, people will attack you first,’’ the MD argued.

Ugwuoha who was speaking to journalists in Abuja this week after bagging the ‘‘Service Delivery Index Award for Most Outstanding Public Institutions’’ said instead of been praised for moving NDDC funds from a ‘‘failing bank to a strong bank,’’ the committee wanted the world to believe that his act was fraudulent.

He explained that for transferring the money from Union Bank to First Bank, the latter has joined NDDC foreign scheme and will contribute $1.2 million annually for a period of five years to the Niger Delta region.

The controversial MD was however silent on the criminality of single-handedly opening the account and the presentation of fictitious board resolutions that enabled him to open the infamous account.

Meanwhile Anyim on receipt of the interim report from Orosanye reviewed the committee’s recommendation and urged the president to sack the current leadership in his executive summary to the presidency.

However, there seems to be sharp disagreement among groups in the Niger Delta region on the recommendations of the Oronsaye panel report, especially as it affects the call for the dissolution of the NDDC board as well as the sack of Ugwuoha. Such groups include, the South-South Youth Movement for Non-Violence (SSYMN) and the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights (ISSJHR).

To the SSYMN, the recommendation was not the wish of the people of the Niger Delta.

The human rights group said the recommendation of the presidential committee was not in order as the current administration of the NDDC, under the MD had done well through its youth empowerment programme.

According to SSYMN President, Mr. Cliff Ndubisi; “The recommendation is not the wish of the people of the Niger Delta. We are witnesses to how the removal of Ambassador Sam Edem affected the NDDC.

The dissolution of the board and removal of the MD could negatively affect the growth of the commission and Niger Delta as a whole.”

But to the Chancellor of the ISSJHR, Chief Jackson Omenazu, the level of corruption in the commission had prevented the interventionist agency from achieving its objectives.

Omenazu was speaking during a one-day symposium, organized by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Rivers State to deliberate on the performance of the NDDC as it affects development in the oil and gas-rich region.

Speaking at the symposium, which had the theme; ‘NDDC: The Performance, Challenges, and Prospects’, the founding director of the Ijaw Council for Human Rights (ICHR), Patterson Ogon, who commended the Oronsaye probe panel for submitting its report to the federal government, recalled that the National Security Adviser, General Andrew Azazi was earlier mandated to investigate the brewing crisis in the NDDC but could not make any head way.

Read him: “I wish to commend the Steve Oransaye probe panel for submitting its report to the federal government.

Recall also that the National Security Adviser was earlier mandated to investigate the brewing crisis and report to the President.” Ogon, who spoke on the sub-theme;

Strengthening Revenue Management in the Niger Delta’ urged President Jonathan not to allow the report of the panel go the way of other reports in the country stressing that given the public perception about the reports of probe panels in this country, Mr. President’s positive rating may rise if he is able to quickly act on the recommendations of the reports.

Ogon, who flayed the in-fighting in the NDDC, called for the full publication of the report of the committee in view of fears that the report may be biased.

In his presentation, the deputy president, Niger Delta Integrity Group (NDIG), a lecturer with the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Mr. Idumange John said the Managing Director of NDDC has consistently flouted violated parts of the Act establishing the Commission, saying that such violations include; the award of contracts without due process; non-implementation of the Board’s decisions.

He also accused Ugwuoha of undue interference with the statutory functions of State Representatives in creating a Due Process Unit a situation he exploited to perpetrate heinous financial crimes in the commission.

Idumange, who spoke on the sub-theme: “The Impact of NDDC in the Eyes of Ordinary Niger Deltans,” also accused the management of the commission of usurpation of the functions of the board of NDDC.

As one State Commissioner puts it ‘‘the MD kills every viable programme and policy initiatives by the board and stifles their implementation.

This ridicules the decisions of the board by permitting NDDC contract award letters to be flaunted outside the Commission and sold cheaply to contractors.

Idumage stressed that the conditions for tendering and bidding for contracts are so harsh that not many Niger Delta people can meet them.

It therefore implies that NDDC contracts are indirectly meant for people outside the Region. One of the conditions is that contractors will not obtain mobilization and are expected to deliver on the first milestone.

He said his investigations show that these harsh conditions were unilaterally introduced by the present Management without the approval of the board.

Idumange called on the federal government to take urgent steps to review the Act of Parliament establishing the NDDC so as to remove the omnibus role of the commission.

Emphasizing that the responsibilities marked out in the NDDC Act 2000 was too bogus for the commission, the university don said the provision of the Act had made it impossible for the NDDC to fully implement its responsibilities for the people of the region.

While calling on the federal government to revisit the mission statement of the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, he insisted that the ministry now sees the NDDC as a competitor in the development of the region.

To Mr. Anyaekwe Nsirimovu, executive director of the Port Harcourt-based Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws (IHRHL), the NDDC, which was established to achieve a people centred development, was now being used as an instrument to under develop people of the region.

Nsirimovu who described the NDDC as animal farm said it is being controlled by godfathers who in turn appoint board members by way of patronage, saying the commission was not meant to succeed. Nsirimovu, who presented a paper on the theme; ‘Niger Delta: Bad Animal Farm’, said; “People-centered development was the essence of establishing the NDDC, but unfortunately, those who established it did not want it to succeed.

“Just like the OMPADEC, the people who set up NDDC never wanted it to succeed. Can you believe that till today, the federal government still owes OMPADEC billions of naira.

The NDDC is only helping individuals to succeed and not the people of the region,” he stressed.

The human right activist called for intellectual militancy in the Niger Delta region, saying that it was the only way to redeem the region. He added that the problem of the Niger Delta region is not Abuja but the people of Niger Delta.

He believes as long as there is deficit democracy in the region, there will continue to be under development in the region.

With the sack of Ugwuoha and the board, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, renowned anti-corruption crusader, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to commence the investigation of the commission’s leadership for contravening section 14 of the NDDC Act.

Onukwugha is a journalist based in Port Harcourt.

ARMED ROBBERS TAKE OVER PH-OWERRI ROAD

Dare-devil armed robbers seem to have taken over the Port Harcourt-Owerri express way as they now rob innocent motorists frequently without interruption from security agencies from either Rivers or Imo States.

 

The road, which is presently being dualized from the Port Harcourt axis, by the Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi-led Rivers State government and from the Owerri axis, by the federal ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, is the link between most states in the South-South and South-East geo-political zones of the country.

 

Ogwareports gathered that such robbery attacks, which have become a daily occurrence, always take place along the Umuapu- Nkarahia- Umuagwo-Mgbirichi axis of the road, which is in Ohaji/Egbema local government area of Imo State.

 

It was further gathered that the gang of armed robbers, numbering about seven always operate on morning of Sundays, especially between the hours of 8.00 am and 11.30 pm

 

A commercial bus driver, Nze Bonny Chukwueke told Ogwareports in Port Harcourt that passengers travelling from Port Harcourt to Owerri, the Imo State capital in his vehicle have been robbed within that axis three times in the last four weeks.

 

Chukwueke narrated how he narrowly escaped from the armed robbers, who blocked the Nkarahia axis of the road in the morning of last Sunday, September 11, 2011, and disposed a lot of them of their belongings.

 

Another victim of the last Sunday’s robbery attack on the road, Mr. Sampson Onugha told Ogwareports that the commercial vehicle he was travelling in was forced to stop near an empty police check-point at Nkarahia junction, where he and other passengers on board were robbed of about of all their belongings.

 

“Yesterday, being Sunday, we were robbed near that police check-point as we were going to Owerri. I was travelling to my village to see my family. They took N140, 000.00 I heard on me. Other passengers were also robbed. Those that did not have much money on them were given the beating of their lives. I heard that the robbers attacked two buses last Sunday and robbed the passengers.

 

 “Each time they rob people, they just run into the bush towards Nkarahia village. I am suspecting that the robbers may be from that village or the neighbouring villages because they operate on that road every day, either in the morning or in the evening,” Onugha said.

 

Commenting on the development, an indigene of Imo State, Mrs. Alice Obiabin Onukwugha appealed to Governor Rochas Anayo Okorocha and his Rivers State counterpart, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to come to the aid of motorist plying the road by increasing security presence at their respective ends to ensure the safety of all.

 

Onukwugha, who is a Port Harcourt-based journalist said Okorocha needs to tackle the issue of insecurity in the state head-long in order to make the state safe for all.

GARDEN CITYBOOK FEAST BROUGHT THE PRINCE OF NIGER DELTA POLITICS AND THE FOREMOST REV JESSE JACKSON TOGETHER!

GARDEN CITYBOOK FEAST BROUGHT THE PRINCE OF NIGER DELTA POLITICS AND THE FOREMOST REV JESSE JACKSON TOGETHER!
By
Wabiye Idoniboyeobu, wabiyeidons@riverdrillgroup.com, 08063755563
Prince Tonye Princewill the Prince of Niger Delta Politics, member of the Rivers State Economic Advisory Council and Consultant to the Rivers State Government on Public Private Partnership joins hand with Mrs. Koko Kalango the Founder of Rainbow Book Club, organisers of the 2011 Garden City Book festival to welcome the great Rev Jesse Jackson to Port Harcourt who is expected to act as guest speaker. He is to talk on the power of written words by writers who bring people-oriented issues to the front burner of public discuss thereby bringing about the much sought change.
For avoidance of doubt, Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson Senior one of the America’s renowned and foremost civil rights, religious and political figures who has for over forty years played pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. On August 9, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Reverend Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Reverend Jackson has been called the "Conscience of the Nation" and "the Great Unifier," challenging America to be inclusive and to establish just and humane priorities for the benefit of all. He is known for bringing people together on common ground across lines of race, culture, class, gender and belief. He is the founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition one of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures.
On 11th September, 2011 destiny brought this world citizen to the path of Prince Tonye Princewill the renowned Scion to the Kalabari Kingdom and the 2007 gubernatorial candidate of the then Action Congress in Rivers State who on arrival from his London base at Murtala Muhammed International Airport joined the same flight with Rev, Jesse Jackson who also arrived from USA to Port Harcourt to attend the 2011 Garden City Book Festival kicking off from 12th September, 2011 and ending on 17th September, 2011.
Prince Tonye Princewill who whiles the flight to Port Harcourt briefed the special guest to the Rivers State Government that five years ago, Port Harcourt was more in the news for inter-cult violence and kidnapping than for anything else, that residents lived in fear daily and went to bed with one eye open however, that worrisome state of affairs has given way to a more stable environment. "The current state government, headed by the Governor Rotimi Amaechi, has calmed virtually all nerves and is gradually restoring the city to its former glory as the Garden City and a place of peaceful living,"
Mrs. Koko Kalango who was the Port Harcourt International Airport to welcome this two great sons of our world told Rev. Jackson that the relationship between governments and writers, in the Niger Delta context, can sometimes be fragile, especially where writers highlight the perceived flaws of government. "From the point of view of the people, literature can serve as a mirror to our society; reflecting the good, bad and ugly aspects of our cultures and socio-economic practices," she added.
At last year’s festival, Governor Amaechi spoke about his abiding interest in literature and how Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People is one of his all-time favourites, because it instructs him as a politician. "The truth is that we have very good writers in Nigeria, but they haven’t achieved the same stature as, say, Chinua Achebe," he said, tasking writers to continue to address the corruption in Nigeria. "Politicians will not change until you the writers become the voice of the people."
He announced plans by his administration to build a world-class library in the state capital. "The building plans are in my office. They have already been approved and the library project itself would cost about N1.2billion," he said, adding that a large chunk of the cost will be borne by corporate organisations and other sponsors. Amaechi, who is a graduate of Literature, also shared his vision of a literary festival that will not only be sustained beyond his tenure, but one that will be positioned to attract increased corporate support strictly on the strength of its own values.
"Our dream is that in the near future the city of Port Harcourt would not only be known for its oil and gas industry but also as Africa’s leading literary hub. Under Governor Amaechi, Port Harcourt has become the Garden where Literature blooms.
At inception, the festival attracted such accomplished writers as Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, Kofi Awoonor, Elechi Amadi and Gabriel Okara. In 2009, it hosted authors, such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o and J.P. Clark, among others; and last year, the festival had in attendance the likes of Chukwuemeka Ike and Vice-President Namadi Sambo as guests.
"With the first African and black Nobel Prize, the most widely read novel in Africa, numerous literary awards in the international scene, and the most vibrant and populous literary guild in Africa, Nigeria’s literature has given a robust account of itself, since the nation’s independence," said Prof. Olu Obafemi, keynote speaker at last year’s edition on the theme: 50 Years of Post-Colonial Literature.
Wabiye Idoniboyeobu is a Public and Political Analyst based in Port Harcourt.

Ogwareports: A Communiqué Issued At The End of A One-Day Sympos...

Ogwareports: A Communiqué Issued At The End of A One-Day Sympos...: A Communiqué Issued At The End of A One-Day Symposium With The Theme: “NDDC: The Performance, Challenges and Prospects”, Organized By The F...

A Communiqué Issued At The End of A One-Day Symposium With The Theme: “NDDC: The Performance, Challenges and Prospects”, Organized By The Federated Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union Of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council

A Communiqué Issued At The End of A One-Day Symposium With The Theme: “NDDC: The Performance, Challenges and Prospects”, Organized By The Federated Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union Of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council, Held on Tuesday 6th September, 2011, At The Chapel’s Secretariat,No 49, Ikwerre Road, Mile 1, Diobu, Port Harcourt.


Rising from the symposium, the participants observed as follows:

That for the past 11 years of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) existence, it has achieved very little and created no meaningful impact as the region is characterized by widespread poverty with about 70% of the population living below poverty line;


that within the limits of its financial constraints, NDDC has failed woefully to execute basic programmes that would have yielded positive results in the life of the ordinary Niger Delta people;

that the commission serves only the interest of the board members and top staff in the award of contracts and other benefits;

that such scramble for juicy contracts and other benefits have led to power play and in-fighting among board members and top executives and,


that the NDDC is yet to implement its master plan notwithstanding that the plan was not a product of discussion and participation by the stakeholders.


We, therefore, recommend the following:


1. Dissolution of the Board

Having appraised the situation in the board of the commission and considering the fact that a lot of bad blood have been injected in the administration of the commission and that requisite unity and cohesion needed for effective administration and management which ensures successful performance, participants hereby recommend that the board of the NDDC should be dissolved and a new one constituted for effective performance.

2.A Parastatal Under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs

Participants observed that NDDC lacks adequate supervision and clear cut focus in the development of the region and that the presidency lacks all it takes to thoroughly supervise the commission which is left as a lackey of the Office of the Secretary to the Federal Government. In view of these, the participants recommend that it should be an independent parastatal under the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs for effective and collaborative performance in the development of the region.


3.Establishment of a Development Council

Participants recognized the need to formulate and implement the Niger Delta Development master plan and therefore, propose the establishment of a Niger Delta Development Council, which shall comprise the President as chairman, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, the Special Adviser on Amnesty, Governors of the Niger Delta States, NDDC and all the Local Government Councils in the region. The council is to ensure the implementation of the master plan and avoid duplication of efforts. It will also appraise the milestone achieved.


4.Review of NDDC ACT and Refocusing of the Commission

Participants noted that there is a disconnect in the ACT between the board and management, which has culminated into mutual antagonism, distrust and high wire politics, which stifle initiatives and productivity of the staff and that state offices are created out of the necessity for the proper coordination of state projects and that there is a conflict between management and the state commissioners, which affects projects implementation and that the revised ACT should streamline this and NDDC should be efocused to concentrate on empowerment, poverty reduction, skills acquisition, education, health, employment, water supply, industrialization and agriculture while, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs should concentrate on physical infrastructural development of the region.


5.Steve Oronsaye’s Report on NDDC should be made Open

Participants observed that there are efforts to whittle down the recommendation of Oronsaye’s panel and there has been intense lobbying to that effect. The participants therefore call on the Federal Government to make open the report in order for public opinion to be injected in the report.


PREPARED BY COMMUNIQUE COMMITTEE SIGNED

1. Mr. David T.J.Amusa ------

2. Mr. Amaechi Okonkwo

3. Mr. Chris Eze ----


DATED THIS 6TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2011

AMAECHI APOLOGIZES OVER SLOW PACE OF WORK ON ROADS

Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi yesterday apologized to the people of the state over the slow pace of work on various on-going road construction sites in the state.

Amaechi, who rendered the apology in Port Harcourt during an unscheduled inspection of some on-going projects in the state, told citizens of the state and motorists plying the various routes to be patient with the contractors at least till after the rains to enable them deliver quality roads.

He explained that any work conducted under the rains would compromise quality standards and reduce the life span of such projects.

"If they carry out any major work now, in the next two or three years it will be very bad. We must be patient to allow these contractors do a good job that would last for us.The state has barely four months of construction window,” the governor said.

He disclosed that due to the rains, the government has ordered contractors to shut down full-time construction activities except those at Chief Godspower Ake road and Ken Saro-Wiwa road, formerly known as Stadium road.

The governor gave an assurance that the Elele-Omerelu road would be completed by June 2012, explaining that the delay in construction was due to the slow crossing of some of the bridges.

Meanwhile, Governor Amaechi has restated the plans of his administration to build a bigger and better Cultural Centre in Port Harcourt to replace the Obi Wali Cultural Centre, which was demolished in 2008.

The governor, who disclosed this while inspecting the new facility at Bonny Street in Port Harcourt, said the government is also planning to provide a multi- layer parking space for the new Centre which is twice the size of the old one, as the State had acquired adjunct buildings in the area to provide a befitting Cultural Centre for the state.

"The new cultural centre has a sitting capacity of 2000 persons and we are addressing the issue of car park and it will be a multi-layer car park, because it is very important to enable us accommodate anybody who comes to use the place," he said.