Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, the Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has appealed to militants to stop destroying oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta.
Senator Ndoma-Egba made the plea during a courtesy visit by the Cross River State University of Technology (CRUTECH) Alumni Association at the NDDC Headquarters in Port Harcourt.
NDDC Chairman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba,(right) during a courtesy visit by members of the National Association of Cross Rivers State Indigenes in Diaspora, Port Harcourt Chapter. Left is Jacob Iwara.
He appealed to all aggrieved people in the region to call a truce because “we are in urgent need of development in the region and it is only in an atmosphere of peace that we can develop.”
Senator Ndoma-Egba stressed that the issues of poverty and restiveness could only be addressed when development was allowed to thrive, noting: “We cannot develop in an environment of militancy.”
He said that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had shown good faith by increasing the financial allocations to the development agencies in the Niger Delta region.
President Buhari has demonstrated goodwill in some of the steps he has taken, he stated, adding: “If you look at the 2016 budget, there is a marginal increase in everything concerning the region.
Allocation to Niger Delta Ministry went up, the budget of the NDDC went up, and the budget of the Amnesty Program went up. Now, something is being done with some urgency on the completion of the East-West Road.
We have the Lagos-Calabar rail line and recently the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osibanjo visited Delta State and gave very firm assurances that the problems of the region will be addressed urgently.”
The NDDC Chairman said that the least the people of the region could do was to reciprocate and show good faith by halting the breaches in oil and gas infrastructure, lamenting that such criminal activities were detrimental to the interest of the region, as they were more like “shooting ourselves in the feet.”
NDDC Chairman, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (right) during courtesy visit by CRUTECH Alumni Association at NDDC HQRs in Port Harcourt on Monday. (Left) is President of the association, Mr Eyam Abang
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