The Nation
19 September 2011
By Olukorede Thomas
It had a clear mandate to turn around the fortunes of oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta. But intrigues among those saddled with the implementation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) mandate have robbed the region and its people of the desired benefits, reports OLUKAYODE THOMAS
MORE than a decade after the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to replace the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADC), the commission has not lived up to its mandate of stimulating rapid and sustainable development of the oil region.
Rather than making the Niger Delta area economically prosperous, socially stable, politically peaceful and environmentally stable, the NDDC has been crisis-ridden. The commission has consistently been in the news, unfortunately for the wrong reasons. If it is not misappropriation of funds, it is outright embezzlement. If the youth groups are not demonstrating over perceive injustice, the board members and the directors are at one another’s throat.
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