Admin l Friday, April 23, 2021
UYO, Akwa-Ibom, Nigeria – Stakeholders in the Niger Delta have called on the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC) to put a halt to ongoing foreign scholarship programme and focus on local scholarship, which they believe has potential of reaching a wider spectrum of beneficiaries, following the onset of Covid-19 pandemic and its travel restrictions.
The stakeholders spoke in a resolution at the end of a three day capacity building retreat at Watbridge Hotel and Ibom Icon Hotel & Golf Resort at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The stakeholders also resolved that the NCC should be included in the list of Statutory Protected Boards in the Constitution, to reduce the high Board and Management turnover, as well as frequent policy changes, with their attendant costs and inefficiencies.
They also resolved that the mode of selection of Executive Management of the NDDC should be reviewed, with greater emphasis on competence and professionalism, and less on political considerations and that the roles of the Executive Directors of the Commission should be properly spelt out in the enabling Act, and that the requisite qualification for executive positions should also be clearly stated in the Act.
The stakeholders told the NDDC to place less emphasis on new projects, owing to budgetary constraints in relation to outstanding obligations and the ongoing forensic audit, but that it should continue to intervene to cut infrastructural deficits in the region, and in other areas of urgent need, such as was done at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They called on the NDDC to review its projects in order to streamline them, by ensuring effective funding and completion of critical projects, and terminating contracts that bear no relevance to the Master Plan.
The stakeholders were of the view that projects handled by the Commission in the past that have direct positive impact on the poor of the region, such as free medical outreaches, should be revisited and reactivated and that the commission’s operations manual be institutionalized and positive work ethics reinforced through training and re-training of staff, as well as through reinforcement of positive work behavior that shall enable staff uphold the integrity of all processes.
The stakeholders called on the NDDC to support tertiary institutions in the region to improve their capacities to impart the necessary knowledge and competencies. They are of the opinion that the Commission’s Empowerment programmes be focused on Entrepreneurship development and recruitment linkages with the organized private sector and government institutions in the region, to create employment and jobs in the region.
They also called on the NDDC to set up a Regional Development Fund (REDFUND) in partnership with other stakeholders within and outside the Niger Delta Region to support Development Projects and Programmes.
They called on the NDDC to improve its communications strategy and implementation, as well as its interface with the National Assembly, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, State Governors and other stakeholders, through regular statutory meetings, town hall meetings and other forms of communications, particularly concerning projects and programmes;
They demanded that the Commission’s annual budget should be appraised holistically to ensure continuous fiscal transparency and accountability and that the Commission should create a culture of budget realism, by eliminating moribund items, ensuring clarity, harmonisation, stakeholder participation, effective monitoring and evaluation, and post-implementation audits;
The stakeholders called for review and update of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan with clear goals and roles for all stakeholders set out, as the under-guiding framework and compass for future budget preparations.
Other resolution include :”That the Commission should automate and upgrade all its operations and ensure advanced leveraging on the automation of its Project Monitoring & Supervision (PMS) Directorate; That other areas of operations should be progressively automated to enhance effectiveness, improve public dealings with the Commission, including remote access to status of payments, in order to promote transparency; That the Commission should be part of the ongoing review of the NDDC Act by the National Assembly, particularly during its public hearings”.
