- Orok Duke decries lack of synergy among stakeholders
BY UBON EKANEM, CALABAR – With a whopping 20 trillion Naira so far sunk by the Federal Government into Nigeria Delta Development Commission (NDDC) since its inception in 2000, Cross River State has described as unacceptable the lack of fairness in projects’ distribution across the South South region
This is against that backdrop that despite this huge amount of investment, the State regrettably remains the least beneficiary in terms of cash flow and number of projects executed.
However, the NDDC’s Commissioner for Cross River, Otuekong Orok Duke who disclosed this in a media chat with newsmen in Calabar, the State capital, said to address this obvious imbalance in projects’ distribution, there must be synergy and collaboration between the State government and NDDC board, as well as the State representatives in the National Assembly.
According to him, there must be concerted efforts among all stakeholders geared toward selfless service that would see the State witnessing development and progressive growth on a sustainable basis.
Otuekong Duke particularly expressed dismay over what he termed selfish political considerations in the siting and execution of NDDC projects in the state through amorphous legislative oversight functions displayed by some members of the National Assembly from the State.
He said unless there is coordinated efforts among the State, the NDDC and the National Assembly members, the state would continue to bear the brunt of neglect and unfair treatment arising from self adulation and lack of considerateness by some highly placed indigenes of the State.
The former lawmaker explained that a situation where NDDC is dragged into street renaming and unapproved intervention on road projects initially initiated by the state government amounts to playing to the gallery just to score cheep political points.
Reacting to the controversy arising the Minister of Regional Planning, Alhaji Abubakar Mahmud’s visit to the state for NDDC’s projects commissioning, Rt, Hon Duke said it is regrettable that a high ranking Federal Government official could be misled into attempting to commission projects not captured by the Commission’s profile of development projects in the State.
The Commissioner stressed that the right to determine NDDC’s listed projects in the state remains within the purview of his office as Mr President’s eye in the Commission.
Established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration to “offer a lasting solution to the socio-economic difficulties in the Niger Delta region”, the NDDC was also meant to facilitate rapid and sustainable development that makes the Zone “economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative and politically peaceful.”
