Sunday Okobi
In order to show seriousness to the Niger Delta people’s cause, and that the proposed reform in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is not mere rhetoric, the Itsekiri people have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently constitute a body for the recently announced forensic audit of the Commission.
They also advised the president to note that the cause of the suffering people living in oil-producing communities should be shouldered and solved by people from the area, by appointing them to lead the affairs of the Commission.
While calling on the federal government to save the ‘dying people of oil-bearing communities’ at a press conference held in Lagos yesterday, the Itsekiri leader, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, who spoke on their behalf, stated that “No one can solve the core Niger Delta crisis of he doesn’t know the terrain and have the people at heart,” adding that the situation goes beyond sitting in an office in Abuja and issue orders that won’t work.
Lori-Ogbebor told Buhari that “before you left, you made a broadcast about the matter of NDDC, and said trillions of naira have been invested in the Niger Delta but all you see anytime you go there is the ocean.
“You said you would order the forensic auditing of the NDDC and that you would abide by the laws that created the NDDC. Mr. President we clapped for you, most of us were not surprised that you took that decision because of your integrity.
“However, a few days after you left the country, the controversial list which you held in abeyance surfaced in the Senate, about the same time the Niger Delta minister set up an interim management committee.
“Mr. President you ordered a forensic audit of the NDDC, but we have not heard anything even till now. Please note that the matter of NDDC is not a political issue, it is a human issue. The oil-producing communities are domiciled by people who are living in the land of their ancestors but have been pushed from their houses and are still leaving in the midst of degradation in the name of Nigeria. They suffer all the health hazards resulting from the destruction of their land by the oil companies.”
The Igba of Warri stated that in the meantime, there are 16 cases instituted by the 16 oil-producing communities against the NDDC in various courts, adding that President Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation and the National Assembly were served the court papers.
“But the Senate speedily went ahead to screen and confirm the nominees of the board in your absence. The first time you travelled out of the country, a similar thing was done but there was outrage across the country, you came back and stopped further actions.
“So we are calling on you to help the people of the Niger Delta region by earnestly constituting a credible committee for the forensic audit of the Commission as well as appoint serious-minded people from core oil-producing communities, who are aware of the terrain of the area and the sufferings of the people, to man the affairs of the intervention agency (NDDC), and give the people a new lease of life.
“We want you to make a decision that will protect us. We should not be made to go into the drains after doing so much for the country. Extracting our oil and allowing strangers to manage our affairs like the appointment of the Chairman and Managing Director of NDDC, amount to slavery,” the veteran journalist appealed to the president.
