Niger Delta Development Commission


The Niger Delta Development Commission is a federal government agency established by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000 with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
In September 2008, President Umaru Yar'Adua announced the formation of a Niger Delta Ministry, with the Niger Delta Development Commission to become a parastatal under the ministry. One of the core mandates of the Commission is to train and educate the youths of the oil rich Niger Delta regions to curb hostilities and militancy, while developing key infrastructure to promote diversification and productivity.

Background

demands of the population of the Niger Delta, a populous area inhabited by a diversity of minority ethnic groups. During the 1990s these ethnic groups, most notably the Ijaw and the Ogoni established organisations to confront the Nigerian government and multinational oil companies such as Shell. The minorities of the Niger Delta have continued to agitate and articulate demands for greater autonomy and control of the area's petroleum resources. They justify their grievances by reference to the extensive environmental degradation and pollution from oil activities that have occurred in the region since the late 1950s. However, the minority communities of oil producing areas have received little or no currency from the oil industry and environmental remediation measures are limited and negligible. The region is highly underdeveloped and is poor even by Nigeria's standards for quality of life.
Sometimes violent confrontation with the state and oil companies, as well as with other communities has constrained oil production as disaffected youth or organisations deliberately disrupt oil operations in attempts to effect change. These disruptions have been extremely costly to the Nigerian oil industry, and both the multinationals and the federal government have vested interests in permitting uninterrupted extraction operations; the NDDC is a result of these concerns and is an attempt to satisfy the demands of the delta's population.

Mandate and operations

The NDDC mandate:
Fiber Optics/Telecoms and Oil Spill: In 2015, the NDDC started a three months twin certification programme in December 2015, running into billions of naira that was abandoned two months into the training - The Fiber Optics/Telecoms and Oil Spill Management Training for youths of the Niger Delta region. The two programmes were abandoned by the NDDC and its contractors Mr. Alex Duke. GreenData abandoned the 200 trainees in various hotels in Owerri. This is 2019, and the programmes are still not completed. The Presidency, the NDDC nor its contractor Mr. Alex Duke have said when the training will resume. This and other issues have led the current board of the Commission to cancel some contracts. This is not the first time contracts worth billions of naira have been abandoned and monies going into private pockets, which has brought the NDDC into the watchful eyes of the Presidency. One of the core mandates of the Commission is to train and educate the youths of the oil rich Niger Delta regions to curb hostilities and also to reduce poverty.

Executive Chairman

The position of Executive Chairman of the NDDC has been a subject of much debate. A compromise was reached where the position would be rotated within the nine oil producing states in alphabetical order: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers.
ChairmanStateTerm of Service
Sen. Victor Ndoma-EgbaChairman of the Governing Board2016–Present
H.E. Mr Nsima EkereManaging Director/CEO2016–Present
Mr Mene DerekExecutive Director 2016–Present
Engr. Adjogbe SamuelExecutive Director, Project2016–Present