NDDC: On Track Towards Genuine Development

By Fehintola Ekundayo

While being educationally drilled at the secondary school level, there was this boy who was supposed to be my senior by one class, but ended up in my class because he failed and repeated Junior Secondary School (JSS)2. That earned him a place among the backward students known by the teachers. However, it turned out that the said boy was not dull but he just was not committing enough to studies. From then on, we noticed more zeal and passion for academic excellence on his part; by the time we entered the first senior secondary level, he had pushed himself into the league of bright students. He was not only answering questions in class, but was passing exams with very good grades. His story is a proof that academic success and failure is a choice, and entirely that of the student.

Listening to a speech delivered by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, at the event where the new NDDC Board was inaugurated, and how his lines synched so perfectly with the policy implementation, as well as execution of development plans in the NDDC and MNDA as introduced during the early days of his administrative watch, I was again convinced that good or bad leadership is indeed intentional.

While it appears on the surface that leadership challenge is a major cause of Nigeria’s state of underdevelopment, a more critical analysis would show lack of will as a remote cause of this challenge. The case of the Niger Delta ministry within the past few months starkly exemplifies the bright side of the picture, where strong will dominates, causing positive changes to grow visibly from one stage to the next with each step of the course.

True to the Minister’s claim of having installed the governance ethos that emphasizes transparency and accountability, the feedback from analysts of public policies have been clear indicators to the pace of development. The progress achieved is through the Ministry’s commitment to accountability and transparency policies. There have been very genuine efforts devoid of political colouration to, not just open up information and communication channels, but to also engage and collaborate with stakeholders.

Relying on the Ministry’s promise to further engage stakeholders and the public at large in keeping track of service delivery in both the ministry and the commission, it appears the government is finally in the path to bring back the affairs of Niger Delta back to the people of Niger Delta and allow them partake in development efforts.

Accordingly, with the recently obtained presidential approvals for both the new strategic development framework and the budgetary support, the Commission can now move beyond promises and plans to begin the implementation of that new infrastructure development framework as designed by its supervising Ministry.

It’s worthy to note that in order not to leave any room for errors, the Minister has announced plans to organize a retreat for members of the NDDC Governing Board, their aides, as well as management of the Commission. Apparently, this is the Minister’s way of providing them with full measure of the support they need to perform their parts of the business in moving the development train forward.

So, from the ministerial workplan which drew the starting lines for the race, to the filtering process that targeted weeding out clogs in the wheel, stakeholders consultation and engagement to the constitution and inauguration of a formal Board, it’s becoming clearer that the Niger Delta is back on track towards genuine development.