Rivers
Monarchs Want NDDC Board Inaugurated, April
Niger Delta monarchs have asked the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, not to fail on his promise in January that the board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), would be inaugurated in April.
Former National Chairman, Traditional Rulers of Oil Minerals Producing Communities of Nigeria (TROMPCON), Charles Ayemi-Botu, and the Ovie of Idjerhe Kingdom, Delta State, Obukowho Whiskey, who did not disguise their feeling about the minister, made the call on Monday.
This came as campaigners under the auspices of 21st Century Youths of Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience, 21st CYNDAC, yesterday, entreated the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Akpabio, to turn away from a supposed plan to extend the tenure of the current Sole Administrator of the NDDC, with additional three months.
Recall that Akpabio had while receiving the interim report of NDDC from the forensic auditors, January 6, in Abuja, said, “By April, this year, when we are done with the forensic audit, we will inaugurate a board for this and the report of the forensic audit will be given to those agitating for it so that we can have a new management.”
Ayemi-Botu, also the paramount ruler of Seimbiri Kingdom, Delta State, said, “My call on Akpabio is to abide by his promise that NDDC board led by Chief Pius Odubu as chairman and Chief Bernard Okumagba as Managing Director would be inaugurated in April, which is just next month.
“However, many know that except it is through divine intervention, Senator Akpabio will not keep to his promise to inaugurate the substantive board of the NDDC. Having strategically positioned his kinsman as a sole administrator, he has succeeded in having the sole and heart of the NDDC, courtesy of Mr President.
“That the forensic audit report was submitted without any fanfare leaves room for suspicion. The entire exercise is fraught with illegality and suspicion and was glaringly designed to scuttle the substantive board,” he said.
Whiskey, said: “Akpabio cannot be trusted, the promise by the minister to inaugurate NDDC Board in April is a political statement that should not be taken seriously by a critical stakeholder in the Niger Delta, but he still has to be held accountable for his word. Akpabio’s body language and activities in recent times have clearly shown that he is only buying time to perpetrate more evil and disorganise the 20-year old regional interventionist agency the more.
“He has deliberately turned the good intention of President Muhammadu Buhari to carry out a forensic audit of the agency into a personal project without input of stakeholders”.
Rivers
Perm Sec, NOA Director Task NGOs On Self Reliance, Networking
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs Uchechukwu Uriri, the Rivers State Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Barrister Young Ayotamunu and others have called on civil society organisations to improve their capacities with a view to becoming self-reliant.
They made the call at a one-day mutual capacity project for partners in Rivers State organised by Ofure Centre For Peace and Development in conjunction with Odudu Development and Peace Initiative in Port Harcourt.
They said time has come for civil societies to develop capacities for self-reliance in the event of a drought in external fundings.
Speaking with newsmen, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs Uchechukwu Uriri also called for networking among civil society organisations in the State.
She said networking will not only improve their capacities but enable them to attract the necessary fundings for their activities.
“Networking is paramount and giving back to the society is also important.
“We should network collectively for effective civil societies, “she said.
Also speaking, the State Director of the National Orientation Agency, Barrister Young Ayotamunu said financial independent has become important among civil societies review of the present economic realities in the society.
Ayotamunu also commended the organisers for building the capacities of both old and emerging civil society organisations in the State.
“The workshop is very important in several ways and talking about strengthening their capacities in such a way that their activities are sustainable in such a way that there is a future for them, ensuring that they are self-reliant, “he said.
The state NOA Director also said the workshop will instill in them the virtue of building resilience as they are not operating in an independent environment but in a global millieu “in the sense that they are taking about NGOs that are in partnership and there is this issue of donor fatigue.
“So it is important that NGOs begin to look inward, look at issues of self-reliance, issue of autonomy, so that when this funding gap begins to come their activities will still be sustainable”he said.
Also speaking, the Executive Director, Ofuru Centre for Peace and Development, Ambassador Sylvester Okoduwa said the workshop which was organised in conjunction with Odudu Development and Peace Initiative was to develop the capacities of emerging civil society organisations to improve their access to Oxfam Nigeria grant.
John Bibor
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