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By Ebube Egbufor
Veteran Niger Delta development activist and elder statesman, Prof. Jasper Jumbo, has appealed to the Federal Government to give the newly constituted board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, “a little bit of free hand” to use the funds budgeted for them to work for the development of the Niger Delta region.
Prof. Jumbo who spoke at an interview with newsmen at the Obafemi Awolowo International Airport (formerly Port Harcourt International Airport), Omagwa also urged the board to find a way to evolve programmes, projects and policies that would carry along Niger Delta youths, from the grassroots, to get them fully involved and participate in the activities of the commission.
According to him, the government should allow the NDDC board use the fund that is budgeted for them to “take care of the youth, pay performing Niger Delta contactors and take care of the founding fathers of the NDDC and the defunct Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), who spent their money and risked their lives to bring about the largesse everybody is now enjoying”.
He cautioned against the situation where the NDDC is made to pay for the expenses of other government functionaries, citing the example of some ministers who, while touring the Niger Delta region, come with a large entourage who the commission is compelled to take care of, and advised that the Ministry of Niger Delta Development should create enough money in their budget to take care of their own needs.
“Let them give the board a free hand. We want to see that money used to get to the grassroots to stop the militancy in the area, to stop the theft of our oil, to stop vandalisation of installed national assets and to empower our people”, he said.
The elder statesman who said that he wrote the blueprints for the establishment of both NDDC and OMPADEC charged the MD to follow the prescribed budget to avoid having problems with the people of the oil-rich region.
He also used the opportunity to welcome the NDDC board and the new Minister of Niger Delta Development, Engr. Abubakar Momoh while commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointing them to serve in their respective capacities.
