At a recent interactive session with media men in Lagos, Chibuzor Ugwoha, managing director and chief executive officer of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, cut the picture of a manager in a hurry to deliver on his mandate. He had given a graphic picture of the impasse in the Niger Delta region and the circumstances leading to the situation. He also analysed the sequence of events leading to the establishment of NDDC, its mandate and the regime of expectations that the agency has had to contend with. Ugwoha pointed out that the Commission is essentially an interventionist agency, created to collaborate with existing government agencies charged with the development of the region and not to displace them.

The Commission operates under the mandate of improving social and environmental conditions in the Niger Delta region. Since its establishment 10 years ago, NDDC activities have been seen from different perspectives by both critics and admirers of the agency. On account of its intervention in the infrastructural uplift of the member states, the Commission has, to a large extent, lived up to its mandate. But some people have argued that its achievement profile hardly matches the fund at its disposal.

These heightened expectations are not unconnected to the bloated impression by some people that the agency has an unlimited mandate. They easily forget that the peculiarities of the topography of Niger Delta pose a lot of challenges to its development, in terms of money and time. That is why it is easy for people who do not understand the terrain to hastily jump to wrong conclusions and or assumptions.

Logistics is one of problems being faced by the indigenes of the Niger Delta. The NDDC is not unaware of this. Already, the design of a coastal road from Calabar to Lagos is almost completed. If the road is constructed, it might only take three hours from Port Harcourt to Lagos. This must be good news for everybody. Think about the investment opportunities that massive highway will provide. It is unquantifiable.

Doing the Niger Delta story was no tea party. For many days and night, ‘our troops’ were on the roads and the creeks combing everywhere. Sometimes, they ran into hostile youths in some communities. All the youths wanted was money, money and plenty of it. That underscores the magnitude of poverty and deprivation that is sweeping through the region. This is where the capacity building programmes of the Ugwoha-led management readily comes in.

However, the Niger Delta story cannot be told in one edition of a magazine, no matter the pagination. Therefore, what you are holding now, The New Face of the Niger Delta, is a mere scratch on the surface of the gargantuan achievements of the NDDC in its 10 years of existence. Although more needs to be done, the communities in the Niger Delta must learn to keep, protect and preserve these massive investments in their domains. Their attitude, for now, is not too encouraging. That must change, and quickly too.

Enjoy your reading.
Dele Agekameh
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