NDDC head office building to be completed by present board of directors—Ekere
The Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Nsima Ekere, has carried out an inspection visit on the permanent office of the agency’s headquarters Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, saying the present board will cork towards delivering the facility before end of tenure.
The visit came after the management board began the distribution of desks and chairs donated by the commission to schools in the nine states of the Niger Delta region.
Ekere noted that Akwa Ibom, the biggest oil-producing state in the region, had benefitted substantially from the commission with a total of 1,068 projects since 2002.
He said “Of the figure, 455 are completed, costing N67.7bn; while 318 are ongoing projects and have cost the commission N34bn and made up of buildings, dredging, canalisation, electrical, education equipment, road and water projects”.
“298 projects costing N71.04bn have been approved by the board for execution in Akwa Ibom State.
According to him, out of the 72,000 desks and 72,000 chairs meant for distribution in the region, Akwa Ibom State was getting 9,600 each, saying the items would be distributed to the schools most in need of them in consultation with the state government.
He said the programme, a long-standing one, was designed on needs assessment, taking into consideration the inadequate study conditions in schools across the region.
While pledging that NDDC would continue to invest massively in scholarship for postgraduate students from the Niger Delta in institutions all over the world, Ekere averred that “There might be a need for the NNDC to consider intervention at the undergraduate level for very gifted students”.
