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Jonathan and the New NDDC :An Insider’s Account
By Styve Badley
Newsdiaryonline Admin Tue Sep
20,2011
The battle for the soul
of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has just begun
despite the shocking dissolution of the Board last week by
President Goodluck Jonathan. The President’s sledge hammer came
when no one expected it in spite of assurances from him to the
Yoruba Council of Elders who visited him recently, that he would
not sack the Board but would rather find a way to strengthen the
troubled Board led by Chibuzor Ugwoha who occupied the slot of
Rivers State according to the zoning principle in appointing the
leadership of the ‘crisis-ridden’ Commission. The action of Mr.
President put an end to the era of Ugwoha who should have ended
his four-year tenure in 2013, having been appointed by late
President Umaru Yaradua in 2009.
Prior to the appointment
of Ugwoha, not much was known of him who hails from Egi
Community of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers State, one of the
largest producers of oil and gas in the country. He is more of a
technocrat though he occupied a political position and so could
not fit in to the highly politicized agency. He had wanted to
stick to the dictates of the President who believed in the Rule
of Law at the inception of his administration on May 29, 2007
but little did he know that he would be consumed by the dynamics
of power play which was orchestrated by the presence of those
considered to belong to the old order. The powerful cabal which
had hitherto run the place under unquestionable controversial
ways were not ready to entertain any neophyte or a ‘new comer’
in the Niger Delta bloc with godfathers from the North and the
West whose bank accounts were constantly raised courtesy of
unexecuted projects running into billions of Naira.
Upon the establishment
of the infamous NDDC, the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo
had adopted the principle of zoning in appointing those to run
the affairs of the agency as it involved the nine oil producing
states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo,
Imo, Ondo and Rivers. Abia had produced the first Chairman of
the Commission in the person of Onyema Ugochukwu while Godwin
Omene of Delta state was the Managing Director whose tenure was
short-lived as such bringing Timi Alaibe on board as the Acting
MD. After a substantive MD was appointed in the person of
Agwvuriavodo to complete the turn of Delta state, Alaibe
returned to his former position as Executive Director, Finance
and Administration. Then it was the turn of Akwa Ibom to produce
the next managing Director in the person of Ambassador Sam Edem
whose tenure again was short lived under controversial
circumstances, Alaibe from Bayelsa again became a replacement
for him in acting capacity before he was confirmed the
substantive MD. Then came P.Z. who became acting MD as well as
the Executive Director, Finance and Administration. For ten
months, he took charge of the commission which was a familiar
terrain for him having been in the defunct OMPADEC before coming
to NDDC.
In summary, the
appointment of the helmsmen of the commission have been the
responsibilities of the nine state governors who have always
appointed their stooges or those they expect to either bring
returns by way of contract awards to their family members and
cronies. In some cases, the representatives are made to finance
the election of their ‘masters’. Incidentally, the law
establishing NDDC makes it mandatory for the state governors to
contribute 3% of their annual budget towards the funding of the
commission which is an interventionist agency established to
meet the yearning needs of the people of the Niger Delta whose
people had been engaged in arms struggle to protest over the
underdevelopment of the region in spite of being the proverbial
goose that lays the golden egg. Unfortunately, several years
after its establishment, the commission is still underfunded and
bedeviled with a lot of bureaucratic bottlenecks which has
hampered its activities aimed at developing the region. The
state governors consider the activities of the commission as
being in competition with theirs have refused to contribute
their own quota. Yet, the Presidency sees nothing wrong with
those who have failed to contribute towards the development of
the region through the agency.
The last of this was the
appointment of the embattled former MD of the Commission,
Chibuzor Ugwoha who was already a Deputy Director in TotalFina
Elf before Governor Amaechi of Rivers State forwarded his name
to the Presidency as his nominee for the position. He was later
screened and confirmed by the Senate before being inaugurated by
the President. Ugwoha right from his first day at work never had
it good as those who have been part of the system were bent on
frustrating him out of the place. The battle was so fierce that
he was pitted against the two Executive Directors, Aghinighan
and Architect Etteh who was in-charge of projects. There were
petitions and counter petitions to the then SGF which later
culminated to petitions to both the EFCC and ICPC. It was not
certain on whose side the governors were though the President
consulted them before the dissolution of the Board last week.
The governors were said to have supported the idea to sack the
Board, apparently to afford them another opportunity of
appointing new cronies to who would do their bidding while
milking the Commission dry. But Jonathan must not yield to the
pressure from the governors who have gradually become emperors
in decision-making. The problem with the NDDC is basically
because politicians see it as a conduit pipe to amass wealth and
feather their political nests without making any real
contributions towards accelerated development in the region. The
governors have refused to pay their mandatory 3% of their annual
budget for the funding of the agency’ yet they jump at any
slightest opportunity to nominate their representatives on the
Board of the Commission.
For Mr. President to
achieve success using the instrumentality of the agency to
develop the region, there are two basic things he must not do.
He must not allow the errant state governors muscle him into
accepting their nominees again and he must not succumb to the
pressure from the Minister of Niger Delta to merge the two
bodies under his supervision. It is not also certain that the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation who is also a
politician can oversee the affairs of the agency without bias.
In fact, he now has the opportunity of nominating his own
cronies to ensure they are empowered towards the build-up to
2015.
The last Managing
Director, Chibuzor Ugwoha was appointed by the governor of
Rivers State and he failed to ensure that the state’s slot was
completed in 2013. So much was the controversy and the internal
squabble that culminated in the sack of the Board led by Air
Vice Marshall, Larry Koinya retired. The President must take
charge to ensure that the volatile area does not go into a
descent again as the ex-militants are divided over the action of
the President.
While the battle raged,
the governors stood aloof and watched who would blink first.
Some of the governors were said to have taken sides while others
supported those were ready to part with millions of dollars from
the three men who were in for a showdown. Some of the
stakeholders who are said to also have the ears of the President
also parted with huge sums of money from the embattled Directors
especially when they got wind of Steve Orasanye panel report.
While President Jonathan
strives to bring normalcy to the place, it is expedient to know
that every member of staff in NDDC including the security men is
involved in the problem. Some have stayed too long that they
have become part of the problem. They see it as their permanent
abode and their exclusive preserve. So a thorough cleansing of
the place is needed before he can achieve the desired result.
The place stinks so much that the name could be mistaken for
Niger Delta Development and Corruption!
This piece
originally titled: ‘Why President Jonathan must choose the new
team for NDDC~An Insider’s account’ was sent in by
STYVE BADLEY who writes for the National
Integrity Group for Development
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