From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Elders, youth groups and stakeholders from the Niger Delta region have commended President Muhammadu Buhari on the appointment of Umana O. Umana as the minister for Niger Delta Affairs.
According to the stakeholders, despite the huge challenges before the Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in particular, they are of the belief and confident that Umana possesses the ability and capacity to preside and reposition the affairs of the ministry and the commission for the betterment of the region.
Niger Delta stakeholders, through its Secretary General, Anthony Loveday, in a statement, expressed confidence in the ability of Umana to drive the development and empowerment of the people of the region.
He also called on the minister to take sound decisions on various issues affecting the people of the region, including the completion of the East West road, the review of various infrastructure development projects in the nine states of the region and the proper repositioning of the NDDC.
According to him, the stakeholders are of the view that due to the few months left for the terminal date of the Buhari administration from office, Umana should create a template on which the next administration will act upon on resumption to immediately set up a substantive board for the NDDC.
Loveday, however, called on the minister to reason with President Buhari on the need to immediately constitute an interim management committee to pilot the affairs of the NDDC pending the nomination of the substantive board by the next administration in less than a year.
He further advised that President Buhari and Umana should urgently constitute an interim management committee with new projects awarding powers to enable them pilot the affairs of the NDDC to facilitate the development of the region.
