A former ex-militant leader, Osaanya B. Osaanya, has blown the lid off the sponsors of the recent campaigns of calumny against Dr Samuel Ogbuku, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
According to Osaanya, the sponsors are individuals promoting a core Ijaw agenda in Ijaw land, particularly in Bayelsa State.
Osaanya, a prominent youth leader in the Niger Delta, revealed that these individuals are unhappy with Ogbuku’s appointment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to manage the commission.
He said their discontent stems from the fact that Ogbuku hails from Ogbia, a local government in Bayelsa State that they consider non-core Ijaw.
The situation became even more volatile when Ogbuku began delivering on President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the commission, exceeding expectations.
This development infuriated the sponsors, who are now questioning why an individual from former President Goodluck Jonathan’s local government was given such a prestigious appointment ahead of others from core Ijaw councils.
Osaanya warned of consequences, stating that the actions of these sponsors are inimical to the progress of Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta region as a whole.
He said, “This parochial and primitive mentality has kept Bayelsa redundant in terms of development. The core Ijaw promoters have been pushing the evil and anti-social agenda that some persons born in some local government areas are the real Ijaw while others in other local government areas in the same state are less Ijaw. The promoters of the so-called core Ijaw want to dominate and lord it over others they consider as non-core Ijaw from the same state.
“This backward thinking is what they brought into NDDC and that is why they are sponsoring campaigns of calumny to pull down the Managing Director of the commission, Dr Samuel Ogbuku. They are even angrier that Dr Ogbuku has won the admiration of the president through his performance”.
Osaanya told those warring against the NDDC boss to sheathe their swords, insisting that any attempt to truncate the current leadership of the NDDC would have far-reaching negative consequences in the Niger Delta.
He said Ogbuku and the current board of the commission have repositioned the NDDC, making it an all-inclusive interventionist agency with its unique stakeholders’ engagements.
Osaanya observed that the Ogbuku’s leadership has reawakened the dead beliefs and trust in the commission by the people of the region, especially with its Midas touch in the infrastructural development of the Niger Delta.
He said the youths, men, women, traditional rulers and all stakeholders, apart from a few enemies of the region, were happy that for the first time, the current leadership of the commission was able to complete many abandoned landmark projects, initiated and completed new ones within a short period.
“Let the evil core Ijaw promoters in Bayelsa and others who consider Ogbuku a threat to their governorship ambition in Bayelsa leave the NDDC boss alone to focus on his job.
“Almost all the stakeholders in the region are happy with Ogbuku and President Tinubu is also happy with his performance in the region. The interest of a few greedy and self-centred individuals cannot override public interest and the general well-being of the Niger Delta,” he said.