Roland Ogbonnaya
1 November 2009
Lagos — Expectations from Mr. Chibuzor Ugwoha as managing director and chief executive officer of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, are extremely high and this he knows. He also realises that he needs the support of everyone with a stake in the development of the region to succeed.
This is why he has been unequivocal in his resolve to work with his colleagues on the NDDC governing board and management committee to give the Niger Delta people a new lease of life; to ensure that they enjoy, in its fullness, the fruits of their many natural blessings. Above all, with his hand of fellowship fully stretched to all relevant stakeholders, he has been actively engaged in enlarging the commission's coasts of collaboration.
As he put it during the first meeting of the NDDC Governing Board, "one knows and feels, already, the weight of expectations from government, from our different stakeholders and from the long-suffering people of the Niger Delta. We must work with all relevant stakeholders, their hands in our hands, to serve, preserve and protect their aspirations and expectations ... to do the best we can, before man and before God.
"We must do well to fulfil their expectations, to energise their faith in Government and constituted authority, and to embolden them to begin to hope again, aware that tomorrow will be a better day for all of us. It is in this spirit that we must work and to it must we dedicate our physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual energies...," he said.
Since he took over the running of the NDDC, his zeal to meet and even surpass these expectations has energised and provided him with enormous impetus in reaching out. At his first official outing at a workshop of the partners for sustainable development, (PSD), forum in Port Harcourt, Rivers State recently, he further underscored his trajectory in the area of collaboration with stakeholders.
"We know that the task of developing the Niger Delta is enormous. We cannot do it individually but together we can do it, if we say we can. The importance of this forum in the development of Niger Delta cannot be overemphasised, especially at this auspicious time when the country is relying on major actors in the region to come together and address its developmental challenges," the NDDC boss explained.
The PSD forum was established in February 2005, as a clearing house that will raise awareness of stakeholders about one another's development activities and plans, in line with the tenets of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan. It was conceived to provide stakeholders in the Niger Delta Region a platform to assume ownership of the master plan and an opportunity to take responsibility for the plan implementation processes through a credible system of non-partisan representation.
Ugwoha's emphasis on the PSD forum as a platform for collaboration is in line with his desire to engender further buy-in and unwavering commitment of all stakeholders to the master plan. He believes that since the master plan constitutes the template for tackling the developmental challenges of the Niger Delta, the Commission needs to constantly engage stakeholders in implementing it.
In what amounts to an operationalisation of the master plan he said "my vision is to facilitate a process through which we can strengthen the economy, regenerate the environment, improve infrastructure and ensure regional peace and stability. Simply put, we must work collectively to put food on the table of every Niger Deltan and improve their living conditions. To this end, our immediate and short-term task will be to execute labour- intensive, sustainable mega-projects that cut across and link the different parts of the Niger Delta.
"These mega projects will be launched in phases which take into account the President's vision for the region. They possess quick multiplier effects, will give jobs to our people and have the potential to start a virtuous cycle of value-adding productive activities. Above all, they will improve the social infrastructure needed to make the Niger Delta region a haven of peace and prosperity and decisively address youth restiveness in the region."
However, he realises that if the NDDC must deliver, it needs all the funds it can muster to finance the numerous mega-projects slated for execution across the region in the medium and long term. It is for this reason that the NDDC chief executive officer has also been making efforts to break new grounds and get the support of foreign stakeholders. For instance, he has been working with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), to ensure that the commission get its past, present and future due funding, from the oil and gas industry.
During a recent visit to the NEITI Executive Secretary, Mallam Haruna Sa'eed, Ugwoha appealed to the body to assist NDDC in collecting the $50 million due to it from international oil companies. The 2005 audit report of NEITI had indicated that the oil firms did not remit the said funds to NDDC, a development that Ugwoha identified as a hindrance to the commission's endeavour to improve the lot of the region.
Ugwoha has also extended NDDC's hand of fellowship to Sweden through that country's ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Per Lindgarde. At a recent meeting with the Swedish envoy in Abuja, the NDDC managing director told him that the Niger Delta people need the support of Sweden to come out of poverty. Ugwoha indicated the NDDC's intention to facilitate the acquisition of skills that are relevant to the oil and gas industry. But beyond that, he said the NDDC shall encourage the Niger Delta people to go into mechanised and modern agricultural practices.
He said "the new governing board and management of NDDC will work for better participation of the Niger Delta people in the economic activities going on around them. We want to create a linkage and interdependence that will make the oil and gas industry a common heritage." In this direction, Sweden is a potential strategic partner to NDDC because it is one of the most highly developed countries of the world and ranks seventh in the United Nations human development index.
Ugwoha's partnership advocacy visit to the Swedish Embassy came few weeks after Nigeria's Ambassador to Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden, Dr. Boladei Godknows Igali, visited the NDDC. On that occasion, Igali conveyed the intentions of the four countries to partner with the NDDC to facilitate the speedy development of the region. He also promised to assist the managing director in reaching out to other Nigerian ambassadors in Europe to encourage them in partnering with the NDDC.
In addition, the Czech Republic, through her ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Jaroflav Siro, expressed interest in partnering with the NDDC. A Czech delegation, including the ambassador and the Economic & Commercial Representative of the Embassy, Mr. Martin Lubojacky, which recently visited the NDDC, made a commitment to assist in growing the region.
In the recognition of the fact that health is wealth, Ugwoha has also been fostering new partnerships in the area of healthcare. He recently entered into negotiation with GE Healthcare to improve the standard of healthcare delivery in the Niger Delta. At a recent meeting with the GE Healthcare team led by its President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. John Dineen, the NDDC, Ugwoha solicited the assistance of the healthcare arm of the multinational.
NDDC specifically requested GE Healthcare to equip and provide technical support for running hospitals built by NDDC. The ultimate goal in this respect is to build the capacity of Niger Delta people, such that wherever such health facilities are located the people would be integrated and have a sense of belonging from conception.
According to Dineen, who was visibly elated about the budding partnership with the NDDC, GE Healthcare has the technology and is willing to utilise the opportunity to contribute towards the development of the Niger Delta,
With the ongoing consolidation of existing partnership frameworks and the extension of the frontiers of collaboration it is clear that the burden of developing the Niger Delta is gradually being shouldered by many more collaborators. That surely is the way forward to a better Niger Delta.
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