The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, has highlighted the plans and expectations of the Commission for 2025, stressing that the Commission will not fail President Bola Tinubu and the people of the Niger Delta region.
Ogbuku, who spoke during an interactive session with newsmen at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, stated that the Commission would fast-track the development of Niger Delta communities in line with the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He declared: “The President has high expectations of us and we shall not disappoint him and the people of the Niger Delta region.”
“Mr. President frowns at the level of underdevelopment of the Niger Delta. He wants to make a difference for the people to see what he has achieved. He has made a commitment to us by ensuring that we have funds with which to operate. This challenge will spur us to do more for the people.”
Ogbuku expressed optimism that 2025 would be a prosperous year for the people of the Niger Delta region. “I say with confidence and conviction that 2025 will be a year of prosperity, especially in project delivery,” he assured.
He stated: “We will complete the Kaa Ataba bridge in Rivers State in 2025. We have engaged the contractor, who assured us the project will be completed in seven months. It is one of the projects we listed under the NLNG partnership. Once that project is completed, the people of the region will have more reason to attest that NDDC is working.
“We are also looking at revitalising the Okirika-Borikiri Bridge and other legacy projects we earmarked to be executed within the 2024 budget cycle.”
The NDDC CEO stated that in 2025, the Commission would prioritise capital projects and place less emphasis on recurrent expenditures.
Read also: NDDC set to release N30bn to Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce to boost job creation
“Let us begin to see projects being delivered. People do not want to know how much you have spent on medical support and other intangible projects that also impact society. Often, people judge organisations by physical projects on the ground. We want to emphasize physical projects.”
He talked of embarking on many new projects that would touch lives in the communities. “As we build the highways and other major projects, we will come down to do those things that will be felt in the rural communities, like giving the communities potable water to prevent waterborne diseases such as cholera.”
“In 2025, the NDDC website will be very active. Communicating better with people and having a feedback mechanism. We will have the I-reporter on the website to give us real-time feedback.”
The Managing Director declared: “In 2025, you will all see a new NDDC. If NDDC is good in 2024, in 2025, we will be better to serve the people of the Niger Delta.
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