NDDC engages Delta communities to safeguard projects against vandalism, theft

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has intensified efforts to curb vandalism and theft of its projects, engaging stakeholders across Delta communities to strengthen ownership, monitoring and protection of infrastructure delivered by the interventionist agency.

At a capacity-building programme organised by the Commission’s Corporate Affairs Directorate, in Warri, Tuesday, officials said the initiative was aimed at addressing persistent challenges undermining development projects in the Niger Delta.

The NDDC Delta state office Director Onoriode Omo-Udoyo represented by Engr. Sweet Odulami urged participants to take responsibility for projects in their domains.

“We are gathered here to be empowered to take ownership of our project. NDDC is designed to develop and empower the Niger Delta. If the project is in good shape, we all will enjoy it,” he said.

He continued, “When you see anything going wrong with the NDDC project, blow whistle, report to community leaders,” while encouraging communities to formally communicate their needs to the Commission.

On project sustainability, he clarified, “NDDC does not abandon projects, we have stalled projects. There may be unforeseen reasons for such stalled projects. It may take a week, month or year. We hand over projects to the state, local governments or communities.”

Speaking on the sidelines with reporters, the Director stressed the urgency of the initiative: “Inasmuch as the NDDC is doing more, projects are still vandalised. That is why the NDDC has come up with this programme to educate the stakeholders that they should take charge of the projects, monitor them so that they will not be vandalised.”

He added, “For example, as the NDDC is lighting up the Niger Delta, the rate of criminality has reduced. If the communities protect those projects, the Niger Delta will be peaceful for us to live in.”

Leading participants through the seminar, Director of Peace and Development Projects, Francis Abayomi, said rising cases of vandalism necessitated stakeholder engagement.

“About 50% of the projects carried out by the NDDC had been vandalised, hence the need for the programme,” he said.

Abayomi advised communities to adopt constructive approaches in dealing with contractors.

Providing insight into the scale of intervention, he said the Commission had executed projects spanning health, education, transportation, agriculture, communication, and economic infrastructure, noting that their benefits would endure if protected.

Statistics presented at the session showed a total of 19,421 projects, with about 13,000 stalled, while key threats identified included natural disasters, sabotage, poor execution, misuse, lack of maintenance, and insecurity.

Responding, officials advised communities to channel complaints through NDDC offices and engage contractors constructively. They also noted that effective supervision improves compliance by contractors.

The Programme Coordinator, Ovie Mathias, said the initiative was designed to ensure sustainability of NDDC projects.

“We thought it wise that people know that it is ‘our’ project,” he said, adding that representatives from all communities across Delta state, including Jeddo, Ughoton, Bomadi, Oteghele, attended.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Ovie stated: “The programme is about strengthening community ownership, monitoring and protection against vandalism and theft. We know the challenges we face. Once programmes are executed by the NDDC, it becomes the community’s own.”

He added, “Over the years, we have seen vandalism, theft, substandard materials. There are channels to pass through to query substandard projects. Feel free to tell us the problems and suggest solutions.”

Participants at the programme acknowledged the need for more vigilance.

David Oki Esq. from Okere community said communities must understand the implications of vandalism, while another participant from Ugbomoro raised concerns over poor execution of solar street light installations.

“I discovered that the solar lights project were not properly earthed. I reached out to them but they said they knew what they were doing,” he said, adding, “I counted about 13 that were vandalised by iron scavengers.”

He called for stricter monitoring, stating, “ a monitoring team should go along with people who do such installations, because most of the workers don’t know what they are doing.”

Another participant urged the Commission to formally introduce contractors to host communities to improve oversight.

The participants further pledged to cascade the knowledge gained and commended the Commission for its interventions across the Niger Delta, expressing optimism that increased awareness would reduce vandalism and improve project outcomes.