Nigeria at 50 : The New Face Of The Niger Delta

NDDC Special Edition | Niger Delta Development Commission - Determined to make a difference

Nigeria at 50 : The New Face Of The Niger Delta

NDDC Special Edition | Niger Delta Development Commission - Determined to make a difference

Nigeria at 50 : The New Face Of The Niger Delta

NDDC Special Edition | Niger Delta Development Commission - Determined to make a difference

Nigeria at 50 : The New Face Of The Niger Delta

NDDC Special Edition | Niger Delta Development Commission - Determined to make a difference

Nigeria at 50 : The New Face Of The Niger Delta

NDDC Special Edition | Niger Delta Development Commission - Determined to make a difference

May 8th, 2011

Nigeria @ 50 : The New Face of The Niger Delta

The New Face of the Niger Delta

Just within 10 years of its existence, the Niger Delta Development Commission has brought succour to 32 million people of the oil-producing areas, using the famous Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan facilitated by the NDDC to redraw the face of development in the oil-rich region

Though the child is just 10 years old, it has grown beyond the age of adolescence into full adulthood – with a track record of enviable achievements that belie its youthful age. Since its creation a decade ago, the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has become synonymous with the changing face of development in a region where poverty, hopelessness and anarchy once ruled the land. Unlike in the not-too-distant past when the Niger Delta was tagged a lawless zone, where youths kidnapped expatriates with reckless abandon , disrupted oil production activities at will and communities frequently engaged in mutually-assured destructive face-offs, the intervention agency is fast turning the nine states that constitute the oil-rich region into an investment haven. Read more »

May 8th, 2011

‘NDDC must be well funded’

‘NDDC must be well funded’

Professor Steve Azaiki, a former commissioner for Agriculture and Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government, sheds light on the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission and urges government to properly fund the agency

By Funsho Olaogun

Long before the eventual establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, 10 years ago, the need for a veritable commission that would oversee the widespread growth and development of the oil-rich region had been paramount in the minds of successive leaders and the people too. However, there was no concerted effort in this direction even by colonial masters. Read more »

May 9th, 2011

NDDC’s Who Is Who

NDDC’s Who Is Who

A mini-biography of the eggheads behind the continuing successes of the Niger Delta Development Commission

By Funke WILLIAMS

Air Vice Marshal Larry Koinyan (Rtd.), Chairman, Governing Board

Undoubtedly, Air Vice Marshal (retd.) Larry Koinyan, one of Nigeria’s finest breed of military officers with a track record of sterling stewardship, heads the Governing Board of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. Though he hails from Trofani, Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Larry Koinyan was born on May 31, 1942 in Enugu, Enugu State. After his secondary education at Stella Maris College, Port Harcourt, Rivers State in 1962, Koinyan worked briefly with the Niger Delta Development Board before enlisting into the Nigeria Air Force, NAF, as an Officer Cadet in 1963.

During his eventful career, Koinyan attended numerous courses both in Nigeria and overseas and served in various capacities, including Platoon Commander ‘B’ Company, Garrison Battalion, Nigerian Army, Benin (1966), Adjutant, 41 Battalion, Nigerian Army 4th Area Command Asaba (1967).

Read more »

May 8th, 2011

Challenges before NDDC

Challenges before NDDC

A decade ago, the Presidency established the Niger Delta Development Commission, as an interventionist agency to help give the oil-rich Niger Delta region a facelift. Although, so far, the commission has recorded giant strides, it faces hurdles in putting smiles on the faces of the people

By Dare ADEJUMO

Before the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, came on board, there had been attempts at tackling the peculiar challenges of the Niger Delta region. Interventionist agencies had been put in place by government after government. But for reasons bordering on too much bureaucracy, among others, the agencies did not succeed in achieving the aims for which they were set up. So, when NDDC came, the first hurdle it faced was that of cynicism. Many just saw it as another white elephant agenda from the Federal Government to deceive the Niger Delta people. Many saw in it a place to come for free meal.

Read more »

May 8th, 2011

Trofani, Others, Get Tonic in NDDC’s Roads

Trofani, Others, Get Tonic in NDDC’s Roads

With its relentless commitment to opening up communities that had hitherto not been accessible, residents laud the Niger Delta Development Commission’s extension of development frontiers

By Joseph OMOSEBI

A member of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, who was posted to Community Secondary School, Trofani in Sagbama Local Government of Bayelsa State for his primary assignment, wept like a baby when he realised that the community was, at that time, not accessible by road from Yenagoa. He was so distraught about having to travel to Delta State before getting to Trofani by boat. He sought and got another posting for his primary assignment. Read more »

May 8th, 2011

Odi: A town reborn

Odi: A town reborn

On November 20, 1999, Odi, a community in Bayelsa State, was levelled by the military after some of its youths killed police officers. Thanks to the Niger Delta Development Commission and the resilience of the people of this coastal town, Odi has moved on

By Winnie OBUNDE

It is hard to believe that tragedy once struck here in gargantuan quantum. Year was 1999. The army struck and Odi, Bayelsa State became a desolate town. Homes went down. Businesses were crushed. Lives were lost. Many of them. Up until this day, no one can say exactly how many lives were lost to the holocaust in Odi. It was a scary tide, which left dreary signatures on the then serene, far-flung, unknown and unsung island town situated on the banks of rivers of fresh fishes. Its infrastructures were destroyed and the people went on exile, abandoning the great River Nun, which poet Gabriel Okara penned great lines about many years ago. Read more »

May 8th, 2011

‘I am passionate about a holistic development of the Niger Delta’

‘I am passionate about a holistic development of the Niger Delta’


Cerebral Chibuzor Ugwoha has been in the oil industry for quite some time. He was in Paris, France when the call to duty beckoned on him. He was subsequently appointed into the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer on August 6, 2009 by former President, late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua. In this interview, with Dele Agekameh, Editor-in-Chief; Dare Adejumo, Senior Editor; Funso Olaogun, Senior Editor; Winnie Obunde, Assistant Editor; and Jibril Sado, Senior Writer, Ugwoha fielded questions on his vision for the region, the achievements of the commission, the problems and prospects of development in the region and how he plans to make a remarkable difference in the lives of the Niger Delta people, especially through capacity building. Extracts: Read more »

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