Ogoni people support NDDC, seek East-West road completion

The President, Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, Fegalo Nsuke, has promised to support the various activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission, seeking more developmental projects in the area.

Nsuke said this was not the time for the Ogoni people to be divided, but to unite and form a common front for the betterment of the oil-rich area.

Nsuke was responding to complaints that the Ogoni ethnic nationality was not invited to the just-concluded three-day Niger Delta stakeholders’ summit organised by the NDDC.

A statement signed by the Secretary-General of MOSOP, Alex Akori, on Saturday, quoted Nsuke as saying that the summit could not have come at any better time than now that the region needed all the support to attract development to the area.

Speakers at the summit, including former President Goodluck Jonathan; Minister of Niger Delta, Abubakar Momo; Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and others urged the NDDC to embark on human development projects that would positively impact the lives of the people.

Nsuke said, “We have appreciated the decision of Mr President to prioritise the issue bothering on the Niger Delta development and we in Ogoni are so blessed with fertile arable land, irrespective of the environmental pollution by oil majors, good enough for rice, tomato, onion farming among others.

 “However, we will expect greater transparency and accountability in the affairs of the NDDC to ensure that its impact can be more strongly felt in the region.

 “MOSOP is ready to partner with the NDDC under the leadership of the current Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, to see Ogoniland as a veritable location to invest resources in the agriculture sector to boost agro-farming for food security not just in the Niger Delta region, but Nigeria as a whole.”

The MOSOP leader promised to partner with the NDDC, calling for cooperation between the people and the commission.

“We as an ethnic nationality will want to state our strong resolve to partner with the Federal Government and the NDDC MD in particular, in the interest of our people.

 “We call for a new dawn to encourage cooperation between the people and the NDDC despite the misunderstandings that have emanated over the handling of the East-West Road,” he stressed.

He added that MOSOP would want to see a speedy resolution of all issues surrounding the East-West Road project to enable contractors to return to the site and complete the same

 “We will work with the present management of the NDDC and on that note, we want to express confidence that the NDDC will willingly cooperate with our initiatives to speed up the completion of the East-West Road project.

 “We also want to use this opportunity to call on Mr President to ensure that the activities of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project in the clean-up of Ogoni are further strengthened.

“As much as we are appealing for sufficient funds for the NDDC to execute its projects, we want the HYPREP to be thoroughly sanitised for the good of the Ogoni people,” Osuke submitted.