By Emeka Nwaokocha
Against the backdrop of the barrage of complaints being hauled at the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in recent times, resulting from the Commission’s failure to address the infrastructural challenges of the Niger Delta region, the inauguration of the new Board of the Commission headed by Mr. Nsima Ekere notably received a thunderous applause and a warm welcome from the people of the region.
No doubt, the administrative mechanism of NDDC has in recent times showcased the sickly disposition of the Commission as evident in the large number of abandoned and uncompleted projects dotting the nooks and crannies of the communities across the nine oil producing states of the Niger Delta region. In a similar vein, the scenario of serious wane in patriotism and love for the hapless people of the region has often times been displayed by the management cadre of NDDC in recent past.
Therefore, the people of the region demand from the new NDDC Board, a painstaking commitment to address the teething challenges bedeviling the Commission in order to retool its operations for better service to the people.
In line with the foregoing, it is imperative that the new management of the Commission under the headship of the Managing Director, Mr. Nsima Ekere acquaints itself with the right information to be able to identify and locate the fault lines hampering the ease in execution of projects by contractors.
On this note, I make bold to state that the volte face put up by the management of NDDC recently by ordering its contractors to return to site within 30 days or face prosecution, amounts to putting the cart before the horse. This is incontrovertibly true because the ultimatum in every sense of the word conveys harm just as it has in quantum the potency of drawing the ire of the contractors who no doubt have in their reservoir a plethora of frightful complaints to haul at the management of NDDC at the opportune time.
Mr. Ekere ought to know that issues relating to award and execution of contracts are quite grave and complex owing to interplay of diverse interests of some persons at the corridor of power in the Commission. Therefore, it behoves him to tread softly and tacitly in dealing with the blistering issues bordering on abandoned and uncompleted contracts in the Niger Delta region.
In a similar vein, Mr. Ekere and his team must not feign ignorant of the festering and mind bugging corruption in the Commission which has lowered the prospects of the Commission in delivering quality services to the people of Niger Delta region.
There is no doubting the fact that the purpose for which NDDC was created has not been met over time, a development that pitches the Commission against the people and has attracted public opprobrium. Taking to heart the urgent demand by the people of the Niger Delta region and the good spirited Nigerians to overhaul the Commission towards achieving its primary objectives, I urge Mr. Nsima Ekere and his lieutenants to put on their thinking caps and see ‘beyond the ordinary.’
The management of NDDC should be pragmatic and abhor sentiments while handling the vexing matters in the Commission with regard to poor project execution, abandoned and uncompleted projects. It is important that the senior officers of the Commission verify the complaints filed by the contractors which border on failure of NDDC to pay contractors as and when due and other matters as the case may be. In the same plank, the plight of the contractors must be taken serious as many have identified corruption as a bane in the moving forward of the Commission over the years.
Tacit inquiry therefore, would reveal that the NDDC contractors are warming up for a showdown should its management make good their threat. This development does not portend any good for the image of the Commission. Therefore, it is advisable the management of NDDC treads with caution while dealing with the nagging issues of uncompleted and abandoned projects in order not to incur the furry of the contractors and the people of the Niger Delta region whose trust for the Commission has consistently waned over the years.
