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Drugs valued at several millions of naira have been donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to the Imo State Government for flood victims in the oil communities of the state.
The Acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, Engr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua presented the drugs to Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State when he paid a visit to the State Government House, Owerri weekend.
Audu-Ohwavborua who was the former Director of the Delta State office of NDDC while presenting drugs, described it as an auspicious moment for him to be in Imo State to present the drugs to address the issue of flood disaster in some riverine communities in the State.
He agreed with the Governor that there are problems in the commission but reassured him that he will start from the onset to solve the problems facing the Commission.
The MD said that the drugs would be designated in the hospitals in the state.
He said: “We are technocrats. We don’t make promises we are not ready to honor. Be rest assured that the marginalization has ended.”
Welcoming the NDDC Acting MD to the State, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State decried what he calls marginalization within marginalization in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) while appealing to the new leadership to revisit the original intention of setting up the Commission.
Governor Uzodimma said over the years NDDC leadership resorted to a maintenance approach to solving problems affecting the member states as opposed to project conception and implementation, noting that from the Act establishing the Commission, so many things have been left unaccomplished.
He regretted that even in the area of interventions, some of the states like Imo as a critical stakeholders in the oil and gas have not been treated fairly.
For instance, the Governor noted that a typical example was during the Covid-19 pandemic era when the Commission was expected to come to the aid of the State, but it was nowhere to be seen notwithstanding that it featured prominently in other NDDC states.
Governor Uzodimma appealed to the new leadership to redress the issue of intra-marginalization in NDDC.
He reminded Audu-Ohwavboua of the need to intervene immediately on the Elele-Owerri corridor of old Owerri-Port Harcourt road as well as on the Mgbidi-Awomama axis of Owerri-Onitsha road in his emergency program ahead of yuletide as both corridors are key to major movements involving indigenes of the state and other road users.
The Governor also solicited the intervention of the NDDC in the flood-ravaged communities of Imo State like Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta local government areas as a way of further cushioning the effects of their hardship.
He described the Acting Managing director as one who is “able, capable, and can solve the problems in NDDC.”
Governor Uzodimma expressed delight over his appointment, saying that he “possesses good knowledge of the terrain and has demonstrated capacity in the various positions he has held.”
He charged him to solve the problems of the NDDC, a Commission he described as a “child of circumstances set up to alleviate the sufferings of the oil-producing states.”
His words: “Go back to the original intention of setting up the Commission so that the impact will be felt by our people.
He said:’ have observed marginalization inside marginalization. None of the oil-producing states should be marginalized. We must get justice, we must get equity, we must get even distribution of amenities, address marginalization inside the NDDC.”
He said: “Each time they say we are a member, why is intervention not coming to Imo State, but going to other states? Repair Elele to Owerri road and also repair the bad sections from Mgbidi to Awommama under your emergency program.”
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NDDC donates drugs to flood victims in Imo
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