NDDC chairman urges Niger Delta people to embrace FG’s dialogue, consultation

The Chairman, Governing Board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba, has urged the people of the Niger Delta region to embrace the Federal Government’s option of dialogue and consultation.

Mrs Clara Braide, the Special Assistant, Communication Office of the Chairman Governing Board of NDDC, said this in a statement she issued and made a copy available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.

Braide quoted Ndoma-Egba as describing steps taken by the Presidency to meet with key leaders and stakeholders in the region, ”highly commendable and remarkable.”

He noted that the steps were part of efforts to bring about lasting peace to the region.

“The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, following the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently on vacation, has in recent weeks been on a tour of major communities in the region,” the chairman said.

According to him, the aim of the Osinbajo’s tour is to have direct interface with the people of the region.

“The ongoing tour of the region is a further demonstration of the commitment of the Federal Government toward the development of the region," he said.

He maintained that Buhari’s government meant well for the people of region, stressing, however, that only the entrenchment of peace, could guarantee overall development of the region.

According to Ndoma-Egba, destruction of oil facilities and other government-owned assets within the region will not solve the problem, but aggravate the monumental infrastructural and environmental challenges facing the region.

He further said that NDDC and all other stakeholders were very appreciative of the move by the Presidency.

The chairman noted that the development of region would serve as a push for the new board and management of the interventionist agencies to be up and doing in the discharge of their duties.

The NDDC chairman expressed optimism that the time for change and solution to the various problems facing the region had come.

He, however, stressed the need for the people of the region to give the present administration all necessary supports to encourage it to continue transforming the region.