A former governor of Akwa Ibom state, Obong Victor Attah, has urged the people of the South-South geopolitical zone to desist from laying all the blames on the Federal Government for the lack of development in the region, stressing that governors of South-South states should also be held responsible.
He stated this on Thursday during a meeting of Elders and opinion leaders of the South South, organized by the South South Consolidated Forum, SFC, in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital, where he also berated the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for the poor state and underdevelopment of the Niger Delta Region.
According to the former governor, “We like to blame the Federal Government for the problems of the South-South when in actual fact we have not gotten a fair deal from our governors.
“What have the governors done with the 13 per cent derivation for the South South over the years?” he asked.
Attah went on to state that the NDDC has impoverished the people of the region over the years by embarking on projects that has no direct impact on the people.
He was emphatic that the provision of school furniture, electricity transformers, and digging of boreholes by the commission are not activities that will change the fortunes of the region.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu had in August disclosed that over $40 billion accrued to the Niger Delta region in the past 12 years through various intervention agencies, regretting, however, that there was nothing on ground to justify such amount.
While noting that the state of infrastructure is disappointing despite the huge effort to alleviate the infrastructural deficit in the Niger Delta, he called for an audit of money so far expended in the region to know what exactly went wrong to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has already forwarded a list of board members of the NDDC to the Senate for confirmation. The list was read on the floor of Senate at Tuesday’s plenary by the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume.
Continuing, the former Akwa Ibom governor emphasized that the grievances of the region would be better channeled if the various groups in the zone speak with one voice.
He stressed that if the entire people of the region could come together and speak with one voice, the cries of the South South will certainly be heard.
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