Ijaw Community Urges NDDC to Revisit 11-year Old Abandoned Road Project in Edo

AdibeEmenyonu in Benin City

The Ijaw community of Gelegele in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State, has called on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to revisit the Udo-Ufunoma-Enikura-Gwilebu road project abandoned over 11 years ago.

The people said no fewer than 100 communities have been cutoff over non-completion of the road, wondering why the NDDC, an intervention agency, should leave out oil producing communities, particularly Gelegele, from it several intervention projects.

Chairman of Gelegele Executive Council, Mr. OmaghomiOlu-Derimon, made the appeal in a statement in Benin City, made available to journalists on Monday.

Olu-Derimon who noted it is most regrettable the communities that lay the “golden egg” were being neglected in favour of those without crude oil, stressed this act is almost destroying the reason for the creation of NDDC as an intervention agency.

He said: “Udo-Ufunoma-Enikura-Gwilebu road has been abandoned since 2014 by the NDDC.

“That road is a gateway to the Riverine communities from Ovia North East to Ovia South West, and over 100 communities have been impacted negatively because of its non-completion.

“The people of these communities go through harrowing experience during raining season and we appeal to the NDDC and the state government to see to its completion.”

Olu-Derimon however, commended the present board of the NDDC for taking the right step to correct some of these anomalies.

“I think over time, before the NDDC, you know, we have the OMPADEC.

We’ve been having some form of intervention agencies who are meant to probably give the government some kind of support, to help develop the oil communities and oil producing states.

“I think the NDDC has not actually met its major target, its major aim of developing, or in the overall development of the Niger Delta or the South-South states.

“Because if you compare the amount of money that have come into this region via NDDC, I think the gap is just too wide.

“But from what I see, the current administration of the NDDC,

there is a kind of difference. I think, we can see a kind of step up from what we’ve seen before.

“We can see a focus in the NDDC. But the area where I really want to focus my mind on the present NDDC is for them to bring development down to the oil producing communities, not just the states, the communities, not just the local government, but the oil-bearing communities.

“If you find out why we had restiveness in Niger Delta was because the real communities that produces the oil were abandoned and that is exactly what is happening to our Gelegele community.

“As we speak, we don’t have the direct impact of NDDC in our community but you will find same in abundance in areas that do not have direct bearing with the agency”, he said.