Ugborodo Community urges NDDC to end historical neglect, demands fair project spread

Ugborodo community in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State has urged the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, to correct what it described as the historical imbalance by ensuring fair and equitable project distribution across the Niger Delta.

Chairman of Ugborodo Community Management Committee, UCMC, Mr Emmanuel Onuwaje and Secretary, Mr Eyengho Besidone, commended Ogbuku for the leadership style he brought to the commission.

They said this as Ogbuku clocks 50.

While praising the NDDC boss, they noted that Ugborodo has been one of the highest contributors to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, due to its hosting of critical oil and gas infrastructure — including crude oil terminals, Escravos Gas to Liquid Projects, 30 million cubic feet a day of processed associated gas from the Otumara, and Saghara fields, Ogidigben Flow Station and gas facilities that power the national economy — yet the community has “little or nothing to show” in terms of NDDC projects.

The statement said: “Aside from the few visible projects initiated during the tenure of former NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Engr. Tuoyo Omatsuli, successive NDDC leaderships have all but abandoned Ugborodo. No significant projects can be traced to the community despite our enormous sacrifices and contributions to Nigeria’s economic survival.

“Now that the Federal Government is pushing for increased crude oil production to meet OPEC quotas, it is only just and sustainable that communities like ours, which host these vital infrastructures, should feel the impact of development. If government truly wants to win the war against oil theft and illegal bunkering, then life-changing projects must be brought to our communities to engage our teeming youth population positively.”

UCMC urged NDDC to urgently commence the long-overdue Ugborodo Shore Protection Project, landing Jetty, Internal Road infrastructures, low cost housing units among other developmental initiatives, as a practical demonstration of Ogbuku’s visionary leadership.

While assuring the NDDC boss of their support, the Ugborodo people urged him to “write his name in gold by ensuring that under his watch, the Niger Delta Commission is remembered not for failed promises, but for ushering in infrastructural prosperity, youth empowerment, and true economic inclusion.”

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