By Chris Ochayi
A frontline Niger Delta and Ijaw youth leader, Ambassador Kingsley Muturu has called for collaboration by political leaders and ex-agitators in the region to enable accelerated development in the region by the federal government.
Ambassador Muturu, who is also a leader of the ex-agitators said only bipartisan collaboration by all stakeholders would ensure any meaningful development in the region. Ambassador Muturu made this call in his country home in Bomadi Delta state, while addressing newsmen.
He condemned what he called “feisty partisan bickering” by the political leaders of the region and enjoined them to eschew political bitterness and give support to all the federal government agencies established for the development of the region.
Muturu said interventionist agencies like the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, need the total support of all the leaders from the region to be able to deliver on its mandate “as opposed to what is obtained now where all the leaders are working at cross purposes thereby undermining development in the region”.
He advised that the “the chance of the region getting it right in terms of development under Buhari Administration is much better, only if our leaders would give peace a chance.”
He condemned what he called the gang up against the ongoing forensic audit of NDDC saying, “the gang up is a clear example of the handiwork of politicians just for their selfish interest ahead of the interest of the region”.
He said the Interim Management Committee, IMC of the NDDC led by Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei have succeeded in restoring people’s confidence “therefore must not toy with the next phase of stabilizing the Commission to focus on effective service delivery.
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He wondered why leaders in the region play politics with the passage of NDDC and other key regional MDA’s budget every year.
“If there is sincerity of purpose on both sides, if the welfare of the people and development of the region are priority, then leaders have to work hard for the swift passage of the budget and support its implementation,” he said.
He advised that the time has come for the people of the region to play politics from a position of strength “and if the task of building that healthy consensus is neglected, the NDDC and other key MDAs can do little or nothing for the development of the region and its people.
Vanguard
