A delegation of the European Union is in Port Harcourt meeting with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in moves expected to lead to a partnership. The EU delegation includes Philippe Peyredieu, Serge Rinkel and Pauline Torhall.
The EU said they were eager to cooperate with stakeholders in Nigeria, especially the NDDC, towards a project they want to implement in 2017. Peyredieu said: “Stakeholders’ meeting is being organised and it will hold in Abuja on Thursday (today). We want all Nigerians to be involved and be concerned. Officials of NDDC are expected to attend. When we exchange ideas, we will make progress. We are planning to invest in a programme to start in 2017.”
Responding, the acting managing director of the NDDC, Ibim Semenitari, said the Niger Delta occupies a considerable space in the Gulf of Guinea and that a lot of issues in the Niger Delta region were affecting each state of the region.
Semenitari said it was gratifying that the European Union (EU) was looking at the NDDC and the oil region more closely. “For us in NDDC, we are talking partnership. We are glad that you are here and we are going to lend our voice to whatever it is. Certainly, we are starting early with the issues you raised about 2017. It is a good time for us, because we are beginning to have conversations with people of communities in the Niger Delta about the budget for next year. So, whatever we need to put in, as our own component, we plan to do”.
She said the economic well-being of the region was very important to the Commission because it matters to Nigeria. “If the Niger Delta is safe, secure and open for business, it matters to the wider Gulf of Guinea, it matters to the world, because of lots of benefits of the region to the world, beyond oil, beyond Nigeria”.
She said the relevance goes up to the wetlands, the wealth in the region’s waters and agriculture, “We have a lot that we bring to the table. So, it is very important and very strategic for us to begin now to ensure that we guarantee a bit more safety in our waters and in our region. We are happy to work with you on this”.
In the Abuja meeting on Thursday, the MD assured of the presence of the NDDC team to share the hopes of the region. “NDDC is the only agency that has responsibility directly to stay in the region and address the issues in the region. That is why we were set up. Basically, when policies happen, it is our job to implement government’s directives. It is also our job to point out the booby traps, where and when we find them. It is our job to ensure that we drive development in the region and to also protect the region, as best as we can”.
The MD said it is their responsibility to provide government’s face in the region. “We take whatever it is that the agencies agreed should be done and we try to implement.”
She added: “We are also closer to the people, because we live in the creeks and rivulets. We are also able to feel the pulse in those communities. We are also able to have a firm understanding, sometimes of the issues. We cannot claim we have perfect understanding, but we have considerable understanding of the issues in the region, because we reside here (Niger Delta) and engage closely with the people of the communities. So, we will be able to share with you some of the things we saw, while going round the communities”.
Ignatius Chukwu
