NDDC To Commence Construction Of Port Harcourt – Okrika Road, Flood Retainer Dam

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will soon commence the construction of the 3.65km Okrika – Borokiri link road and bridge that will link Port Harcourt, the Rivers State with several islands and creeks in Okrika Local Government Area.
The Managing Director of the commission, Dr. Samuel Igbuku, disclosed this on Thursday in Port Harcourt during an interaction forum with media representatives to highlight the agenda of his administration.
Describing the road as a legacy project, Dr, Igbuku said the project would be completed within two years. He noted that the commission will only embark on projects that will be completed in record time within the budgetary limits of the commission.
The NDDC MD said his administration has tagged its agenda, Project HOPE, which means Holistic Opportunity for Program Engagement. He said Project HOPE is a conscious agenda which will restructure the commission and drive corporate governance system that will be internally regulated and instil accountability and transparency.
He said the commission had been operating for about two years without a budget but, with his assumption as substantive managing director, the commission’s budget is now in the process of being approved and would be published when it is finally approved.
He said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has started remitting funds from IOC’s and other donors to NDDC. However, NDDC is engaging on reconciliations with the IOC’s to determine exactly how much.
He used the medium to call on the people of the Niger Delta to utilize the recent window by the commission to fill their data online, as this will enable the commission to have vital details and needs of the people.
He also called for partnership between the commission and entrepreneurs operating within the region, stating that partnership between the commission and entrepreneurs will engender risk sharing.
Reacting to a recent statement by former governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, that the commission was a cash cow used to fund political projects, Dr. Igbuku said the former governor’s comments would rather spur the commission to positive accomplishments.
He said the commission has plans to set up transit homes which will shelter flood disaster victims and disclosed that a consultant has been engaged to design a dam that will harvest flood water and generate power and provide irrigation in the region.
The NDDC chief executive officer said the commission has also regularized prompt payment of staff salaries and restoration of their welfare packages.
The MD said that on assumption of duties, the current Executive Management realised that the Commission was working with many Directorates with overlapping functions. Many of the Directorates, he said, were not created to enhance the service delivery of the Commission but were set up for some ethnic and political interests.
“I met about 30 Directorates as against the 13 provided for in the Act establishing the NDDC. Today, merit is our watchword and the over 30 Directorates have been reduced to the 13 Directorates stated in the NDDC Act.”