- Commission plans Silver Jubilee celebration in July
BY UBON EKANEM, CALABAR – The Cross River State Government (CRSG) and the Nigeria Delta Development Commission (NDDC), have mended fences with assurances of greater inclusiveness and robust collaboration in the South South region’s development plan.
This was the cheering news when Governor Bassey Edet Otu recently hosted the NDDC management team led by the managing director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, in Calabar, the State capital.
However, Governor Otu said that though the State is in dire need of development, such initiatives must be anchored on an inclusive and collaborative approach by both sides.
According to him, such an approach would deepen trust and expand the frontiers of need assessment-driven and people-oriented project execution.
He said, regardless of whatever may be trending in the public space, Cross River is not involved in any face-off with the Commission, noting that the misunderstanding over projects’ commissioning in the State was a mere improper communication approach, which had long been sorted out.
Governor Otu stated that Cross River, which currently hosts over 54,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), deserves special attention for refugee funding, as limited resources often constrain our development programs.
He urged the Commission not to take undue advantage of the State’s status as a non-major oil producing partner, as others, to punish it in the distribution of development projects, saying, “At times it can be painful to reflect whether being peaceful should be seen as a sign of weakness.
“As long as we are a part of the Niger Delta region we would continue to draw attention to our plight and also demand for what should of right come to us”.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, told the Governor that as an interventionist development agency, the Commission is currently transitioning from a transactional organ of government to a transformational, impact-driven, and needs assessment project execution agency with equitable focus across the entire landscape of the region.
Dr Ogbuku said the Commission’s focus is now on building sustainable institutions, while also laying emphasis on improving accountability as well as completing legacy projects.
Importantly, he also used the occasion to announce that the Commission will be celebrating its Silver Jubilee anniversary in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) next month, July 2025 with all Governors of the Niger Delta region expected as Guests of honour.
