Soyinka Lauds Obasanjo Over NDDC

4th August

By Daniel Alabrah, Regional Editor, Niger Delta
Commendations came from an unlikely quarter on President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday with Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, describing the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as one of the positive points of the Obasanjo administration.
Soyinka, a strident critic of the government, made the commendation in Port Harcourt when an advance team of the Nobel Laureates Commission visited the interventionist agency to exchange views and proffer solution to the crisis in the Niger Delta area.
"The NDDC has taken on an enormous burden on behalf of this beleaguered area (Niger Delta region). This organisation, created by the President, should be marked down as one of the positive points of this administration any time I want to criticise him," he said.
An advance team of the Nobel Laureates Commission, an independent international pressure group comprising the almost 200 living Nobel Laureates in the world, was in the region on a three-day visit, which ended on Wednesday after meeting with the Bayelsa and Rivers states governors, the NDDC management and select Niger Delta leaders.
The visit to the NDDC is to assist the Commission promote dialogue, peace, welfare and the well being of the people and communities in the region.
"We are trying to see what can be done to de-marginalise those who have been marginalised for so long," Soyinka said, according to a statement by the Head, Corporate Affairs, Aniete Usen.
Speaking also, the leader of the advance team and Executive Director of Elie Wiesel Foundation, Mr David Philips, explained that, "we are here to identify some of the key areas of concern in the Niger Delta and pave the way for a visit by a larger body of Nobel Laureates in future. We envision over the long term, a strategic partnership with the NDDC."
Under the impending accord, members of the Nobel Laureates Commission will wield their moral authority and deploy advocacy to garner support for the NDDC to develop the Niger Delta.
Responding to an inquiry by the team leader, the NDDC Executive Director (Projects), Beniah Ojum, explained that the agency’s projects are conceived and executed with the active participation of the beneficiary communities.
Similarly, the Managing Director, Emmanuel Aguariavwodo, described the Commission’s method of execution of projects as bottom-up approach. "We ensure that people of the communities where our projects are located are involved in our projects," he said.