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The constitution of the present board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has continued to attract condemnation from some concerned quarters within and outside the Niger Delta region.
The latest one came from HM, King Leslie N. Eke, Nyesiri Eli Woji, Eze Oha Evo, Eze Gbagbakagbaka when he spoke Monday, in an interview with newsmen in his palace at Woji in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area
King Eke, who also is the Eze Oha Evo III of Evo kingdom, pointed out that the membership composition of the NDDC board was not in the best interest of the region.
He said that it short-changed the people of the area, as non-Niger Deltans were fused in the system.
“The right personal is not hired. Niger Delta is short-changed. There is polarization in the system,” he said.
The monarch noted that the NDDC is an interventionist agency for the Niger Delta, but expressed regret that concerned authorities are drifting from the core mandate of the agency.
The Eze Ggbakagbaka, who doubles as the general secretary of the Association of Niger Delta Monarchs of Nigeria, further pointed out that the people were never given any position or contracts in North East Commission, and added that the right thing must be done.
He was of the view that politics or any form of national sharing formula should not be extended to the commission since it was specifically penciled for a particular region for the development of the area.
The traditional ruler, who went down memory lane, stressed that the agency and its authorities, should be bothered with providing the oil-rich zone with all the basic amenities, and not the inclusion of non-Niger Deltans into the system.
“What the commission and its authorities should deliberate on, should be how to elevate the plight of the region and not to pile up the board with non-Niger Delta people,” he said.
On way forward, he called on the Federal Government to revisit the new board appointment and do the needful in the interest of justice and equity.
It would be recalled that the latest constitution of the NDDC board had non Niger Delta people as members, which had raised high level of agitation within and outside the oil-rich zone of the country, as pundits also argued that it contravened sections of the law that established the commission.
