The noise in the past weeks has been about the state of affairs in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The commission who is responsible for the development of the Niger Delta region and its people have lately been drawn in what seems to be an unending controversy as a result of the forensic audit ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The controversy started when the former Acting Managing Director of the commission Dr. Joi Nunieh accused the minister of the commission’s supervisory ministry Godswill Akpabio of various abuse of office and mismanagement and demanded that the house committee probe into the matter and conduct forensic auditing of the commission.
There are roughly three major power players when it comes to the control of the NDDC, the Federal Government through the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs which is the supervisory ministry of the NDDC, the NDDC management and the people of the Niger Delta.
Let’s begin with the Federal Government and the role it has played since the creation of the commission in the year 2000, what has the Federal Government done to ensure accountability in the commission?
The answer to this question is that the FG have not done much or enough since the creation of the commission. The commission has several abandoned projects every fiscal year but yet, Abuja provides the commission with new allocations of revenue without asking questions.
The failure of the Federal Government to provide constant check and balances which ensures that the commission stay on course and duly execute its mandate is a fault that has encouraged corruption in the commission and cannot be overlooked.
The management and staff of the NDDC are a major part of how the commission goes on about it’s day to day affair and every key staff of this commission knows enough to raise an eyebrow when necessary.
Their failure to raise this eyebrow for the period of the alleged mismanagement in the commission is a pointer to the fact that the staff and management of the commission are either too scared to speak up or they enjoy the corruption too much to care.
Lastly, the people of the Niger Delta, the commission was created to cater to the people in this region due to the complication they suffer from the resources that their region generates for the whole county.
The fight against corruption at least in an establishment like the NDDC must be championed by the will and demands of the people in this region, the question here is, what are the people of the Niger Delta demanding from their representatives in the commission.
If the Federal Government through its various offices do not feel that it’s of urgent attention to curb the corruption in the NDDC, aren’t the people of the region meant to come together to demand accountability for what is meant to cater to their need?
There has been reported mismanagement of over 80 billion naira since the controversy rocking the commission started a few weeks ago and if the Federal Government is serious about making the commission effective, these are various things that should be done.
- Prosecute every guilty individual after the house committee investigations.
- Reshuffle the staff and management of the NDDC and get in new dedicated faces.
- Perform yearly forensic auditing of the commission’s account every fiscal year.
Finally, the people of the Niger Delta must recognize their position in the fight again corruption in the commission and demand accountability from the people representing their region.
Let me know what you recommend by leaving a comment below. You can follow me on social media @Iamdreal_tig on every platform.
