By Ovasa Ogaga,
By all indications, the current board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), led by its Managing Director from the East, is on a mission to reclaim the agency’s lost glory. Across the Niger Delta, abandoned projects are being revived, communities are seeing long-forgotten infrastructure come back to life, and the NDDC is making noise for the right reasons — or so it seems.
But in Delta State — the highest oil-producing state in Nigeria — the noise is deafening for all the wrong reasons. For a state that has pumped billions into the NDDC’s coffers over the decades, there is shockingly little to show. While Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Imo, Abia, and even neighbouring Edo are dotted with freshly commissioned projects, Delta’s “big moment” came in Asaba, where the only thing on display was an elaborate gathering — no new roads, no schools, no water projects, no evidence of development.
In the two years since this board took office, Delta’s share of the NDDC’s so-called Renewed Commitment has been nothing but photo ops and fanfare. Over 200 journalists from across Nigeria were flown into Delta, but the state’s story was one of empty stages and flowery speeches. Theatrics and theory replaced the concrete and steel that should have been transforming communities.
What makes this neglect more baffling is that the current Chairman of the NDDC is a Deltan. The board also boasts another top Delta representative — both of them political heavyweights: one a former Speaker, the other a former Secretary to the State Government. Yet, while their counterparts from other states lobby fiercely to pull projects home, Delta’s duo appear to be either asleep at the wheel or politically paralysed.
So, are they handicapped, helpless, or just hopelessly disconnected from the needs of the people they claim to represent? While other states in the Niger Delta celebrate their gains, Deltans are left to watch the parade from the sidelines.
In the end, one must ask: Did Delta State get it wrong in sending these two “prominent sons” to the NDDC board? Judging by the results so far, the answer may be more obvious than polite company allows.
The current board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), led by its Managing Director from the East, has been making commendable efforts to reposition and redirect the agency towards its core mandate of infrastructural development in the Niger Delta. A notable step has been the decision to take on many important abandoned projects across the region. Sadly, however, this renewed drive does not seem to reflect in Delta State, which happens to be the highest oil-producing state in Nigeria. One cannot help but wonder why this is so.
Delta State has, for decades, been one of the major contributors to the financing of the NDDC. Yet, as the Commission marks its 25th anniversary, we see it commissioning landmark projects in Bayelsa, where the MD hails from; in Rivers State; in Akwa Ibom; in Cross River, which contributes little or nothing to the oil economy; in Imo; in Abia; and in Edo State. The NDDC’s imprint is visible even in neighbouring Edo, but in Delta, the only “show” from the Commission has been the gathering it held in Asaba. There was no project to unveil, no development programme to highlight — nothing tangible to justify the state’s huge contributions over the years.
In nearly two years of this current board, all Delta State has witnessed are razzmatazz celebrations. The NDDC even brought over 200 journalists from across the country to Delta — yet there was not a single new project to showcase. What we saw instead was theory, theatrics, flowery speeches, and elaborate celebrations without substance.
This raises a deeper question: when the current Chairman of the NDDC is from Delta State, and there are also representatives from Delta sitting on the board, why is the state still left behind? These are two prominent Delta politicians — a former Speaker and a former Secretary to the State Government. Are they asleep while key project decisions are being taken? Are they so politically handicapped that, while their colleagues from other states are lobbying and securing projects for their people, they are… busy snoring away?
Did Delta State get it wrong by sending these two prominent sons to represent its interests on the NDDC board? Your guess is as good as mine.
By Ovasa Ogaga,
A Journalist and Public Affairs Commentator Writes from Delta State.
