THE governance of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, must be totally reset to enable it deliver its core mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta.
The current model, which makes it more of a honeypot and patronage centre, renders it a nursery of corruption, confusion and infighting, thus derailing any meaningful attempt towards turning the developmental deficits of the region around.
Under the current model, members of the Board of Directors are drawn from the oil-producing Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Bayelsa, Abia, Imo, Ondo, Cross River and Edo states.
Chairman of the Board, Managing Director and Heads of the “juiciest” directorates are typically representatives of the four “oil majors” (Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Bayelsa). The North is also given a bite of the “cake”. Representatives of the three geopolitical zones are curiously part of the setup.
With this model, everyone is primarily focused on taking as much as they can from the system,…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
