The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, says it will strengthen its
collaboration with the European Union, EU, through the Niger Delta Support
Programme, NDSP, to resuscitate abandoned water infrastructure across the
nine Niger Delta states.
The NDDC Acting Managing Director, Prof. Nelson Brambaifa, stated this when
a delegation from the EU-funded NDSP3 pilot project paid him a courtesy
visit at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.
He stressed the importance of institutionalising community-based management
structure for the maintenance and sustainability of basic infrastructure in
the Niger Delta region. He also harped on the need to develop a framework
to ensure community ownership of water projects in the region.
Prof. Brambaifa commended the EU delegation for collaborating with the NDDC
to ensure sustainability of water projects in the Niger Delta region,
especially with the realisation that water was one of the basic needs of
life.
He declared: “We are looking forward to strengthening the collaboration
with the EU, because water is life.”
He noted that the ground water in the Niger Delta region was polluted, such
that even with the abundance of water in the area, there was hardly enough
fit for drinking.
He said: “We definitely need sustainable water projects because it is part
of our mandate to bring potable water to the inhabitants of the Niger Delta
region. It is one thing to organise a project like this, but it is another
to ensure its sustainability. You don’t just start a water project and two
months later you come to see that it had been vandalised.
“We are committed to this partnership with the EU to work out modalities to
ensure that any water project we commission should be able to stand the
test of time. We must find ways to safeguard our projects because it is one
of our core mandates to bring sustainable development to the people of the
Niger Delta.”
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer pledged to take the Niger Delta to the
next level in line with the mantra of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led
administration.
He called on the EU delegation to convince the international body to
increase its financial commitment to the water project so as to help the
region with safe drinking water that would address the challenges of
water-borne diseases in the region.
The team leader of the NDSP, Albert Achten, told the NDDC boss that there
was need to expedite action on the pilot project because its life span
would terminate in May this year.
He, therefore, enjoined the partners to push for an effective and timely
implementation of the EU and NDDC-NDSP3 pilot project.
Achten remarked that in the last two years a synergy had been developed
between the EU-funded NDSP and the NDDC, stating that the key part of the
synergy was the pilot project for reviving 45 abandoned water schemes in
the nine Niger Delta states.
He recalled that the collaboration took off officially in November last
year at a two-day Strategic Retreat for the Board and Management of the
NDDC in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Further to that, he said that on February 2,
2019, the NDDC demonstrated its commitment to the project by writing to the
Ministry of Budget and National Planning on the programme.
According to him, the project is up and running, as two very important
tasks had been completed. He, however, stressed that time was running out
since the contract between the EU and the Ministry of Budget and National
Planning would end in the next few months.
He said: “We solicit the continued support of the NDDC for the project,
especially as it concerns the release of funds. The NDSP part of the
project is financed by the EU, but the logistics for some of the activities
are expected to be taken care of by the NDDC.”
*Charles Odili *Director, Corporate Affairs.
March 20, 2019.