NDDC Will Fail Unless Restructured –Mitee

The President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Barrister Ledum Mitee, has said that the dissolution of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board without dealing with its over-bearing bureaucratic structure would certainly replicate the same problems facing the commission.

Barrister Mitee who made the assertion while reacting to the sacking of the board and its Managing Director on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, said getting experts from Japan or wherever to run the commission would only compound the problems if it remains saturated with politicians.

‘What I mean is that there are structural problems in NDDC. You have the management, the board, you have the governors’ committee and the President’s monitoring committee, you have the Senate Committee and the House Committee on NDDC. All these are avenues for some sort of patronage , and it is overbearing”, he stated.

He explained that the whole idea of NDDC was supposed to be interventionist so there was no need of going through the bureaucracy of state to get things done, pointing out that “ this is why some of us who articulated the issue of Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission came up with a commission that will directly be under the presidency, which can deal directly with the people in the oil producing rural areas without the bureaucracy of the state and its attendant politics”.

Barrister Mitee suggested that the NDDC should be restructured to reflect a clearly independent body and appoint persons of proven integrity into its board.

He urged the President to come up with clear mandate for the new board and not saturate it with politicians but those who have the capacity to make the NDDC work in the overall interest of the people.

In his reaction, the President of the Niger Delta Coalition Against Violence (NDCAN), Comrade L.B Christian described the dissolution of the NDDC board as a bold step by President Jonathan.

Comrade Christian said that the dissolution was not a witch-hunt but aimed at strengthening things at the commission, alleging that the commission had never considered the development of communities in its operations.

According to him, the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) has taken over NDDC’s responsibilities in the state, as its presence was not being felt in any part of the state.

He noted that the commission did not in any way attempt to alleviate the plight of some Niger Delta communities which have suffered in the course of oil exploration by the oil companies.

He called on the in-coming board members to shun what he described as official marriage between them and government officials so as  to actualise the goals of the commission.

On whether to zone the managing directorship to another state or not, he said that the position should remain in Rivers State in order to enable it complete its tenure, and called on Niger Deltans to remain calm and wait for the rebirth of a brand new NDDC board.

Vivian Peace-Nwinaene

Pioneer Military Governor of Old Rivers State and Amanayanbo of Twon Brass, King Alfred Diete-Spiff (right) with former Military Administrator of Rivers State, Group Capt Sam Ewang (rtd) at the public presentation of King Diete Spiff ‘s biography in Port Harcourt, yesterday.