OPEN LETTER IN RESPONSE TO: NDDC- WHAT WE MUST DO AND THE PRESS STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF NDDC

NIGER DELTA JUSTICE FORUM
No. 86 Nwaniba Road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Telephone: 08118054076.

To: The Presidency Abuja

       The National Assembly Abuja

       All Niger Delta Stakeholders

OPEN LETTER IN RESPONSE TO: NDDC- WHAT WE MUST DO AND THE PRESS STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF NDDC

We are compelled to respond to the above subject matters as patriots and stakeholders because nefarious actors are monolithic in their structure, with no option to retrace their steps or even branch off from the solidity of the inflexible trunk, the source of their implacable power. To counter them, the kernel of their malevolent frameworks must be dismantled and completely laid bare.

The most important piece of real estate to stake a claim is the human mind. You make the claim by creating a perception. You create the perception by controlling the context. Control the context and you control the mind. Control the mind and you control reality, that’s the essence of the Veblen Effect. However, social psychologists are quick to remind us that “herd mentality” or “group think” has severe limitations when subjected to critical analysis or hesitation.

It is our opinion that the decision of the Chairman of the Governing Board of NDDC to hastily distance the Board from the MOU signed by the Commission in its quest to attract private capital for the development of the region based on emotions, sentiments, sense of judgment and propriety in order to curry public appeal, on deeper introspection is ruinous and far from right. We are not fooled by the beautiful prose of hired writers, the cobbled arguments of her procured craven supporters or the eloquence of her Marxian postulations about transparency and accountability. Her ambition of naked power grab was made obvious in the sponsored Vanguard newspaper advert published before the summit in Lagos where a fictitious group made legally deficient solicitations to President Buhari to quickly amend the law and further promote her to Executive Chairmanship of the Commission with unlimited powers even at the twilight of his administration.

We have experienced the confusion and dread of watching the least qualified people get promoted even when they lack the authenticity and influence to build strong teams because they are out of touch with the needs of the citizens. The government needs to cultivate and measure leadership potentials instead of the current system where authority over others is based on who you know and not what you know. Granting promotion without assessing a person’s capacity for leadership reduces the role to a mere transaction and this seems to be at the core of the public tantrums emanating from the Commission. 

The allegations of a prevailing toxic work environment and management consideration of board members as meddlesome interlopers as contained in the Vanguard newspaper publication are not only manifestly false and frivolous but absurd and hogwash. Also, the wild allegations of illegal waivers of 3% levies granted to IOC’s and the back dating of contracts to unlawfully appropriate the Commission’s resources are the imaginations of a devious mind and patently defamatory. The prevailing sense in the region is that of satisfaction because for the very first time in a long while, the Commission has a duly constituted management team deploying its resources for common good.

The Chairman’s press statement condemning the widely hailed effort of the Commission towards transitioning to a new organization that would leverage private capital for sustainable development of the region through PPP and the subsequent signing of an MOU for preliminary processes for a rail network that would connect the nine NDDC States is both reckless and ill-conceived. Her attempt to create an imprimatur of illegality and deliberate litigation of the internal affairs of the Commission in the public space is an unprecedented embarrassment to the region and its people. No matter how cleverly disguised and presented, her grudge response is simply in furtherance of her ongoing schemes at total capture of the executive powers of the Commission not institutional bargain.

How else can any rational person explain her opposition to the transformational change and Blue-Sky thinking that led to the concept of the PPP? Is she not aware that the federal government has all but abandoned the Eastern Railway Corridor due to paucity of funds? What disadvantage would the region suffer if it secures a rail network that would connect all the states and complement the Eastern Rail Corridor if it is eventually completed? Is she not aware that the Atlanta based AGRI came recommended by the US EXIM Bank and that the US Consulate was represented at the signing ceremony? Is she ignorant of the fact that several board members were present at the event? Does she not know that the outcome of the Summit is attracting global interest to the region? What exactly are her interests? There is no rule that says her arguments must make sense but we must do away with the principalities of the past.

The Chairman seems to  be suffering from the “Peter Principle” whereof she may have been promoted beyond her level of effectiveness. The region needs leaders who will allow the collective good of the people overshadow their self-aggrandizement. In view of this critical need, we hope and pray that the chairman retraces her steps and detracts from public smear and misrepresentation.

For NDDC to make progress, there is no magic bullet. What is clear is that doing nothing is not an option nor is continuing as normal the way to go. We recommend that the Board and Management should have a Shared Vision Workshop to deliberate on workable strategies and innovative ways to attract scalable development to the region. What NDDC needs is that in exchange for the greater strategic goal of developing the region, the Board and Management must embrace peace over conflict. Instead of engaging in public fits and outbursts, the board should liaise with management to rethink job creation, retool youth unemployment thereby significantly addressing insecurity and engendering the flourish of enterprise. 

The people of the region are tired of living frustrated, anxious and overwhelmed. New habits can be formed. Fresh hope can be found in the Commission. The practice of gratitude and acknowledgment of good deeds by those who dare is the missing key to unlock the hope, joy and beauty around the region. It is not particularly helpful when we try to frustrate people with good intentions. Let good conscience prevail.

- Bassey Ime Idongesit.
Convener

Joachim Dakolo                                            Publicity Secretary.

OPEN LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION

NIGER DELTA JUSTICE FORUM

No. 86 Nwaniba Road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Telephone: +24 912 460 8050

OPEN LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION

September 7, 2021

The Hon. Attorney-General and Min. of Justice

Mr. Abubakar Malami

Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja.

Sir,

RE: NDDC FORENSIC AUDIT REPORT: MATTERS ARISING.

We write with reference to the mendacious and dissembling report submitted to you and disingenuously labelled ‘’forensic audit report on NDDC 2001-2019’’ by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

We decided to write this open letter to you because apart from being the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, you are a man with an incisive, deeply analytical legal mind and the so called report was submitted to you.

A cursory look at recent national news headlines betrays the malevolent intention of those who orchestrated the audit report. The mechanics employed by the planners was awful, the tactics deployed by the executors was dreadful and the metrics and barometer of the work of the forensic auditors were abysmal. They deliberately mismanaged the entire process and concocted a scheme to mislead you in order to achieve a predetermined outcome.

The exact amount of funding received by NDDC from 2001 to 2019 is a matter of public information and available in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and that of NEITI. If this basic but fundamental element of the forensic audit report can be intentionally misrepresented to create a baseless sensation, then the report leaves much to be desired.

For the avoidance of doubt, NDDC has received the following sums of money from 2001 to 2019:

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS:   N760,165,606,560.32

GOVT (OMPADEC ELECTRICITY FUND):          N2,500,000,000.00

STATE GOVERNMENT GRANTS:                       N18,175,000.00

OIL COMPANIES CONTRIBUTIONS:                 N1,623,690,225,765.07

OTHER INCOME:                                                 N19,566,957,137.81

TOTAL RECEIPTS:                                                N2, 405,940,964,463.20

(See link for attached PDF NDDC REVENUES )

Sir, the puzzling question that should agitate your mind is what mathematical abracadabra did the Minister and auditors employ to arrive at the N6 trillion figure which they presented to you when it is clear from the above table that NDDC received only N2.4 trillion between 2001 -2019 (a period of eighteen years)? Does it mean that the auditors don’t know the difference between income and approved budget or were they instructed to engage in deliberate misrepresentation? This misinformation is not only misleading, wicked and unconscionable but also inimical to future growth of the Niger Delta region. It is capable of inciting other regions against the Niger Delta now already being perceived as having frittered away a whopping sum of N6 trillion. To this end, we implore you, sir, to verify these figures and urgently correct this callous falsehood.

A forensic audit as a matter of practice must scale certain matrixes including planning, collecting evidence, writing a report with additional step of a potential court appearance to concur or disprove the fraud committed. Are the independent and dependent variable concepts/framework adopted by the auditors in the report submitted to you testable? Were the records they used appropriate to the problems or gaps they tried to fill? What type of data collection methods were used? Was there any rationale for the non-usage of technical tools and non-analysis of bills of engineering measurements to evaluate the extent of work done on projects? Was their observational guide sufficient to justify their reports? Were the contractors interviewed, who were the interviewers and how were they trained to minimize bias?

With due respect sir, the truth is that there was no forensic audit in the true sense of it. The report you have is the end product of a shambolic and scrappy exercise cleverly devised to deflate and buy time to continue to maintain absolute control over the finances of NDDC. It was pre-arranged to indict pre-determined targets.

The President ordered the forensic audit in October 2019 but the audit proper in the states started less than six months ago. It is noteworthy that about 40% of NDDC projects are located in riverine areas which the auditors could not access with gunboats because of low tide especially in Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta States. You may wish to independently verify this assertion. Some of the auditors complained aloud of censorship and lack of access to vital documents. The field auditors would spend less than 10 minutes at a 2 klms. shoreline protection project, 2 sq klm dredging site or a canalization project and use their observational guide to make a determination without the aid of technical tools such as total station, theodolite, fathometer or any form of sounding equipment. They would go to a 20klm road project completed more than 10 years ago in a challenging terrain, drive on less than 1klm distance of the road and without extracting the core for testing write a report as instructed by the orchestra conductor.

The auditors did not bother with funding issues, design issues, community and terrain challenges, legal disputes etc. They never interviewed a single contractor neither did they bother to relate with the engineers and consultants who supervised the projects. It is common knowledge that the auditors didn’t visit up to 30% of the advertised 13,777 abandoned projects they wrote reports on because of the constraint of time and terrain difficulties. How then can this report withstand the slightest legal scrutiny?

NDDC has had its audited report submitted to the Auditor-General of the Federation, the National Assembly, NEITI, The NDDC Presidential Reports and other regulatory agencies. It is unprofessional for the auditors not to have liaised with any of these agencies for independent confirmation of information.

The audit report is littered with intentional acts of muddling to control, scare, scandalize or bring to public opprobrium certain persons who have been targeted for embarrassment. This clearly explains the pre-audit allegations of a certain person who was receiving N1bn monthly as consultancy fees to collect debts from IOCs and another one who was accused of abandoning a $70m project which up till today have not been substantiated despite several challenges to prove same.

The recommendation of the report that board membership of the commission should be on part time basis in order to reduce costs should be ignored because it demonstrates clearly that the auditors did not even bother to read the Act setting up the Commission and they conveniently refused to question the thousands of people that management has surreptitiously employed in the last two years without recourse to due process.

While we recognize the need to diligently audit the finances of NDDC especially in the last two years and tackle the malfeasance that has bedeviled it and establish a credible template for efficient service delivery, it is our contention that the purported ‘’forensic audit report’’ submitted to you is not worth the Ghana-must-go bags in which they were delivered as the report cannot stand any basic accounting or legal challenge. The report should either be referred to the Auditor-General of the Federation for a review or be sent back to the Minister for his continuous entertainment.

Sir, please do not lend the weight of your office to the antics of desperate plutocrats who want to keep on embarrassing the government.

Thank you.

Bassey Ime Idongesit

Conve Iner.

Del-York International is not ripping off Ignorant Nigerians

The goal of Del-York International has always been to raise sponsorship to cover full tuition, feeding and accommodations for all participants of the training program from Nigeria's public and private sectors.

While we recognize that the price for world class training by the New York Film Academy is a shock for most Nigerians, we have been able to raise support from Local companies who are invested in building the capacity of our nation's youth in the creative industries, which was recently recognized by the World Bank to have great potential for job creation and poverty alleviation.

This year we received the generous support from our partners: NDDC, Edo State Government, Riverdrill Group, Pepsi and NAFDAC to sponsor 96% of the students currently attending the program in Lagos.

We hope that this group of students will exceed the success rate of the graduates from the 2010 training program in Abuja, where 122 of the 400 graduate are presently employed in the entertainment industry, with some on the BBC film crew, and others already creating jobs for many by opening their own production studios.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

We invite you to visit our training facilities in Isolo and observe our trans formative operations.

Sincerely

Chinaka Iwunze
Head, Media and Communications
Del-York International
www.delyorkinternational.com


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Who Is Afraid Of Timi Alaibe?

Timi Alaibe


Who Is Afraid Of Timi Alaibe?

~ By Daniel Wilcox.

Since the day Mr. Timi Alaibe declared his interest to contest for Bayelsa State governorship under the Labour Party many nerves have been racked. Those who are yet to grasp the reality of Alaibe's declaration are already hell-bent on snuffing life out of him. This is to be expected from a people who have no political credibility.
Alaibe decided to team up with the Labour Party to wrest power from the incumbent non-performing governor of Bayelsa state. It is natural that when superiority challenges inferiority, the complex in the lesser party would seek to annihilate the higher party. This is precisely the situation in Bayelsa state today. It is now a consensus of opinion that Alaibe is bringing the Midas touch to the governance of the state if voted into power. Not a few would agree that the state desperately needs speedy transformation. But those who want the status-quo of the frittering of the state's resources would do all the pernicious things to stall the machine of re-engineering the state. The recent bomb blast near his home is one desperate effort by the bruised and the humbled opposition to dissuade Alaibe from contesting the governorship of the state. Having traversed many paths assiduously and successfully, Alaibe is not one to give up so easily. His power is derived from the strength of the people who have massed around him like an impregnable wall.
“I will never let our great party and my people down by giving up the support the people have given me,” he said. Such a statement could only come from a man who knows the people to be his constituency. Alaibe knows that this is his hour to bring about a rebirth in Bayelsa.

The current government has failed us in Bayelsa. Security has collapsed because there are no conscious and concerted efforts on the part of the government to build a virile state where relative peace and tranquility will prevail.

The state has an almost a nonexistent commerce. Governance is not only about putting up phony adverts with the money of already bruised citizens. Governor Timipre Sylva promised to address issues of infrastructure, environment, security, youth empowerment and agriculture but he has so for failed to fulfill his promises. There is no time now to do that, because his time is up. The people are now determined to vote out the ruling government in the state, by voting in a responsible Labour Party government spearheaded by Alaibe.

Accountability had been murdered in Bayelsa state by the current administration as huge allocation of the Federal Government to the Local government areas had been misappropriated by the state government cronies. The rate of unemployment in the state had tripled, this partly accounts for the high rate of criminality in the state. You cannot blame the people because the government has been a great disappointment. Rather than the state government to create job opportunities, it continued to deceive the people with unrealistic and unobtainable schemes.

“The Labour Party is resilient, united and fights the cause of the common man,” he stated. I am for the common people. I also will not overlook the needs of others. He understands the Niger Delta terrain and what the rural masses need.
Though Bayelsa State is one of the major oil producing states in Nigeria, majority of its people still live in poverty.

Adequate transportation system, health, education, and other infrastructure are grossly inadequate in the state as a result of decades of insensitivity of government of the state.

The labour gubernatorial candidate urges all Bayelsans to come out and participate in the on going voters exercise; Bayelsans according to him must resist attempts to manipulate the voter registration. If we want a better Bayelsa state, we must take action and join the efforts to make it happen.



Wilcox lives in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State.

Alaibe: The Only Choice For Change In Bayelsa State

Timi Alaibe

Alaibe: The Only Choice For Change In Bayelsa State

~ By Daniel Wilcox

That Mr. Timi Alaibe has declared his interest to contest for Bayelsa State governorship under the Labour Party is no news. It is also no news that he decided to team up with the Labour Party to wrest Bayelsa state from the shackles of the ruling party. What is news is that Alaibe is bringing the Midas touch to the state because it desperately needs speedy transformation. He is known as one not given to failures. His rise from grass to grace attests to his commitment to a purpose driven mission.

“I will never let our great party and my people down,” he said. Such a statement could only come from a man who knows the right time to do the right thing. Alaibe knows that this is his hour to bring about a rebirth in Bayelsa. He knows that the possibility is within his reach judging by the stunning following he enjoys in the state across political, ethnic and religious spectrum in the state. Almost all his life seems a preparation for this moment.

“I chose Labour Party because the party is resilient, united and fights the cause of the common man,” he stated.

Alaibe is not new to administration in any capacity. He has served the nation well and done exceedingly good for his Niger-delta constituency. He rose from being executive director (Finance) to becoming the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. He was later appointed Senior Adviser to the president on Niger Delta Affairs. He was until his resignation from the current administration a moving force in the implementation of the government’s amnesty program for ex-militants. Alaibe, oversaw the implementation of the amnesty, under which more than 20,000 oil militants, surrendered their arms in exchange for development of their region and a retraining program. He understands the Niger Delta terrain and what the rural masses need in Bayelsa.

A true son of the Niger Delta, Alaibe showed quite early in his life the qualities of diligence, intelligence, compassion.

Prior to his appointment as Managing Director, Alaibe was in the banking industry. He served as Vice President of Cosmopolitan Bancshares in 1994, and later as General Manager, Corporate Banking and Investment at Societe Generale Bank (Nig.) Ltd.
He has become a magnetic rallying point among the youth, the women and the elders alike, and at the national level where he has championed the cause of the Niger Delta people.

At NDDC, it is on record that he has been instrumental to the healthy financial and administrative regime of the Commission, in a charged socio-political environment where the mandate of the Commission faces a dire prospect of being easily overwhelmed by political exigencies and social pressures.

A major part of the success of the NDDC in addressing the daunting neglect of the Niger Delta region, as well as in reducing the agitation and violence prevalent in the region before the establishment of the NDDC, lies in Alaibe’s great compassion, brilliance, foresight, natural problem-solving and people-savvy skills.

In line with the vision of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Alaibe helped to enthrone a culture of enduring achievement for the NDDC. Along with his colleagues on the Board and Management of the NDDC, he strove to set in motion, a coordinated response mechanism to the short-term and long-term challenges of the Niger Delta, comprising as key ingredients, an integrated regional development Master Plan, interim action plan for key projects in the states, as well as skill acquisition programs and a re-orientation and empowerment of youths.

Alaibe has been described in many circles as peace advocate, catalyst for change, friend of the oppressed, conduit for development, and symbol of hope and inspiration for the indigent yet hopeful Niger Delta people.

Alaibe holds a bachelors degree in Accountancy from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, and a Master of Business Administration from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

In recognition of his contributions to humanity and the society, Alaibe has been appointed a member of many professional organizations, including the Institute of Chartered Administrators, the Institute of Corporate Executives, and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also received many outstanding awards for excellence. In 1991, for instance, Mr. Alaibe was appointed a member of the Rivers State Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs. A one-time vice-chairman of the Rivers State Wrestling Association, he was also the founding Chairman of the Rivers-Bayelsa Professionals Forum.

He is, also, a member of the Presidential Committee Police Equipment Fund, where he serves as Chairman, Public Sector Sub-Committee.

Among his many awards are: Certified Doctor of Business Administration, Oxford Association of Management, Oxford, England; Distinguished Fellow of the Academy of Commercial Diplomacy, UK; Certified Strategist Lifetime Award of the Cambridge Association of Managers, UK; Certificate of Honour from the European Market Research Centre, (Euro Market Forum) 2003; Distinguished Fellow, Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria; Distinguished Fellow, Certified Institute of Management, Nigeria; Distinguished Alumnus of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; and Outstanding Alumnus Award, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt.

In addition to his growing international profile, Alaibe has been invited to deliver papers on subjects as wide-ranging as politics, capital markets/country risk rating, sustainable development, peace and security.

These include: Security and Sustainable Development in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria,” by the Defense and Security Forum, United Kingdom; Development Challenges of the Niger Delta Region: The Path to Sustainable Development,” at the annual law week of the Nigerian Bar Association, Bayelsa State Branch; Country Risk Rating And Implications For Capital Market Growth In Nigeria: The Niger Delta Question,” at the Nigerian Stock Exchange Annual Conference, Abuja; and Peace and Development in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria,” delivered at the prestigious annual Ronald H. Brown African Affairs Series of the Black Congressional Caucus, the United States of America, organised by the Leadership Roundtable of the US-Africa Partnership.

Though Bayelsa State is one of the major oil producing states in Nigeria, it is one of the least benefiting states from the oil income. Majority of Bayelsans still live in poverty. They are mainly rural dwellers due to its peculiar terrain and lack of adequate transportation system, health, education, or other infrastructure, as a result of decades of neglect by the central government and oil prospecting companies. This has been a major problem in the state since its creation and successive governments have failed to address and repair the damage. The state has an almost nonexistent commerce.

In his inaugural speech, following his election, the current governor of the state, Governor Timipre Sylva, promised to address issues of infrastructure, environment, security, youth empowerment, agriculture and industrialization. His government has so far failed to deliver on these promises.

Alaibe is undaunted and remains focused on his program to transform the state for the overall well being of its people.



~Wilcox lives in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State.