By: HighCelebritySquard
…Says monies from region squandered in Abuja, Dubai, US, others
…Vows to address injustice
The Chairman, Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Lauretta Onochie, has decried the level of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta area despite the humongous funds allocated to the interventionist agency over the years.
She said the NDDC was a shame to the region and the country at large, noting that monies earmarked for the development of the crude oil and gas-rich area were being fretted away to Abuja, Lagos and overseas, while the people of the region live in squalour and abject poverty.
Onochie stated this shortly after assuming office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, following the handover by the immediate past acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, at the commission’s headquarters on Thursday.
She said, “Today is a historic day, not just for the people of the Niger Delta, but for the women of Nigeria. And being a historic day, we have a lot of things going on today. Let me remind us why we are here.
“This organisation (NDDC) was commissioned specifically for the people of the Niger Delta. It is an interventionist agency that is supposed to bring about prosperity; it is supposed to bring development in our region. This organisation was set up in the year 2000. And, if you go round the Niger Delta till date, there is little or nothing to show for it. NDDC has been a shame of the Niger Delta and a shame of our nation.”
Continuing, she said, “We are going to improve the working environment because if you are not happy at the place you work, then those of us at the head will not have your 100 per cent. You have 100 per cent to give, but we demand 110 per cent.
“From what we gathered, there are a lot of politics going on here, not just here, in the ministries as well. We will not tolerate that. Over 20 years, the monies that were expended in this region, found their way to Abuja, Lagos, Dubai, London, the United States, and everywhere, except the Niger Delta.
“And when the President or the government tries to correct things, they use some of the money to mobilise those same people they have put under them to protest against what the government is doing in their own favour.
“But, the staff work here seems to have some level of stigmatisation. I don’t blame you; maybe, you have not been given the enabling environment. I believe all of here are well experienced, well trained to give the people of Niger Delta the best.”
