The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godwswill Akpabio has called for meaningful development and a chance to satisfy the aspirations of the people of the Niger Delta region, for a ?total overhauling ?of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
?Akpabio, who made the call yesterday in Uyo while fielding questions from journalists on some state and national issues as Akwa Ibom State marked its 24th year of creation, said the reorganisation was necessary so as to prevent the commission from being a drain pipe where the country would continue to waste money.
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According to him, the operational method of the commission presently cannot bring development to the people of Niger Delta He said, “It has been structured to fail since it does not have a quick solution to the problems confronting the region”.
?He said if NDDC was set up as a task force to intervene and fix the deplorable condition of infrastructure in the Niger Delta region, then there would be no need for the NDDC budget to get to the National Assembly but should only be made to focus on infrastructural development that could turn the region around.?
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State governments, Akpabio noted, should be allowed to monitor all NDDC’s projects because the present arrangement did not serve the needs of the Niger Delta region.
?On the issue of settler/ indigene syndrome which had claimed many lives in recent times, the governor said members of the National Assembly should put necessary legislation’s in place to address the issue in order to foster unity and peaceful co- existence among Nigerians that chose to live in another land other than their states of origin.