The core essence of government is better life for the people, and that can only be delivered when leaders have the capacity to initiate seamless and dynamic government policies with purest of intentions. Without an iota of a doubt, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio’s foray into politics and by extension, governance, is to redefine the way leadership can translate to tangible and sustainable better living for the people.
In retrospect, the Niger Delta ministry where Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom, now holds sway as minister was created to fast track the development of the Niger Delta region. However, since its creation, the ministry and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the intervention agency under it, has been turned into a conduit pipe, while the targeted region remains in squalor, penury, with barefaced and mind-boggling corruption as the order of the day.
To address the unmitigated circle of corruption in the ministry and its agency, President Muhammadu Buhari set out on a voyage in search of someone trusted and competent enough to turn the commission around. After searching meticulously, he settled for an uncommon transformer like Senator Akpabio, who has demonstrated for the umpteenth time that he is worthy of being trusted as exemplified by his uncommon transformation of Akwa Ibom State from a poor swampy land into a citadel of modernity.
Although critics and enemies of Nigeria stoutly opposed his appointment, President Buhari, being sure of the exact idea of what he wants, insisted. It was clear to the president that he was dealing with such hideous dyed-in-the-wool enemies of Nigeria, and by extension, his next level agenda. They opposed Senator Akpabio’s appointment because they knew he will do something different from what was the norm: a neck breaking corruption and patronage system.
On one of my fact finding missions to the Niger Delta that took me almost three weeks, I observed the mood in the region, and as I interviewed some of them, a visibly elated people of the Niger Delta applauded President Buhari for appointing Senator Akpabio to save the region.
Upon assumption of office, when Senator Akpabio reeled out his next level agenda for the region, including the Forensic Audit of projects executed by the NDDC, the undesirable elements trying to shove him aside knew their days of reckoning was here! In order to cover their tracks, they started throwing tantrums to dissuade Akpabio’s resolve. They made preposterous, spurious and unsubstantiated claims, through paid articles and editorials, all targeted at maligning Senator Akpabio’s stainless and unblemished records of performance.
Their greatest fear is the setting up of a Forensic Audit Committee. They brag and questioned Akpabio’s guts to attempt to break their conduit pipe through which they milked the region of billions of naira with reckless abandoned. Forensic Audit will eliminate corruption and question past shoddy deals, and these evil men will have none of it. Thank goodness that President Buhari refused to fall for their sinister motive of assassinating Senator Akpabio’s character and drag his name in the mud.
Institutions of state are created to among other things accelerate the socio-economic development. So was the intention of government for establishing the NDDC, at the return to democracy in 1999.
Senator Akpabio has demonstrated that he is a bridge builder, who jettisoned his personal interest in order to promote the interest of the people of the South South and Nigeria in general. Rather than condemnation and backstabbing, he should be commended for his courage to bell the cat. The issue of neck-deep corruption in NDDC has been a pain in the ass of every Nigerian.
Obong Akpabio, as an uncommon performer, had exact idea of what the intentions of President Buhari are for the region that lays golden egg. This was why President Buhari ordered that a forensic audit of the NDDC be carried out to unravel why so much money was sunk into the Commission without commensurate result.
Under the supervision of Senator Akpabio the process of forensic audit has started and when completed it would reposition the Commission and set a governance structure that would enable the NDDC to deliver on its core mandate instead of being a conduit for politicians to siphon the resources meant for the collective good of the country. This, in itself, is a commendable initiative of the administration of President Buhari. Already, the fear of forensic audit by contractors is the beginning of wisdom. Contractors who had been mobilized with no intention of doing the jobs have returned to site.
With all the financial inflow from the federal government, the International Oil Companies, development partners and other sources, the current debt profile of NDDC stands at about N2 trillion. This has led to the littering of the region with over 12,000 uncompleted and abandoned projects. Typically, jobs done by the NDDC contractors are shoddy and sub-standard.
It is the vision of Senator Akpabio that the Commission should be repositioned to complete ongoing and abandoned projects, while its liabilities are reduced to make the interventionist agency “bankable” and deliver quality projects. It does not make sense doling out politically-induced contracts that are not funded.
The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs would soon complete the construction of nine housing estates as well as the construction of one skills acquisition institute in each of the Niger Delta states. Work on the housing estates and skills acquisition institutes has meaningfully engaged the youths of the region. During a recent visit to the projects, Senator Akpabio assured the communities that the federal government would complete the projects so that they can be put to use.
And just recently, Senator Akpabio secured the commitment of the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) for strategic alliance for improved agricultural development and the provision of employment opportunities for the teeming youths of the Niger Delta. The ministry is embarking on a pilot programme on rice production in the nine states of the region which would also help to provide employment opportunities for the people, check hostilities and youth restiveness, and improve the living standard of the people.
As minister of Niger Delta Affairs, the former governor of Akwa Ibom State envisages a peaceful and prosperous region with clusters of small and medium industries where the people are engaged to contribute to the development of the region. This is the mandate that President Buhari has handed down to the minister and there is a congruence of opinion that Senator Akpabio has started well and would also accomplish these onerous tasks.
– Ibrahim is director of communication and strategic planning of the Presidential Support Committee (PSC).
