If ever there was a contest, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) would win the ‘most generous parastatal’ prize hands down.
In the last two weeks a parade of its past and present executives have had Nigerians in stitches over their shenanigans. At the same time their lurid tales of squandermania have horrified even the most hardened among us.
Take your pick. Is it the revelation of how this 19-year-old organisation was still spending N200,000 per day hiring vehicles? Is it the little matter of N1.3 billion spent on Covid-19 palliatives for the staff – one of whom pocketed a tidy N10 million to comfort him from coronavirus stress?
The former Acting Managing Director, Joi Nunieh, through whom a lot of the tales of sleaze have emerged, told a House of Representatives committee how she came under intense pressure to share N10 billion as ‘Christmas palliatives.’ She baulked at the proposal.
On Monday, Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, revealed how the Interim Management Committee spent N4.2 billion in one day – something they accomplished using the tried and tested method of paying the amount in tranches of N49 million so as not to breach their N50 billion limit.
The current Acting Managing Director, Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, fainted dramatically while facing forensic questioning from Representatives. Cynical Nigerians argued he was simply living up to his title of “Acting MD,” but the evidence of my eyes told me he wasn’t just exhibiting thespian talents.
Who wouldn’t have a health crisis when the members were methodically pointing out to him that he had breached regulations by spending unbudgeted funds?
As he sat slumped in his chair, he symbolised the humiliation and helplessness of the institution he headed. Such is the opprobrium that has attached itself to the NDDC arising from ongoing revelations that no amount of billion naira ‘reputation management’ contracts would wash it clean in a hurry.
Bear in mind that these crazy numbers are the product of activities in just the last eight months. Imagine what the forensic audit of nearly two decades accounts would throw up!
Some estimates put the amount that has flowed through the coffers of the NDDC in 19 years at about N15 trillion. It is scandalous that administrations came and went and no one thought to demand the audited accounts of an agency through which such humongous amounts were being channelled.
People have been more fixated on some of the more explosive parts of Nunieh’s testimonies, overlooking other poignant things she’s said about the organisation she headed so briefly.
For instance, she blamed its problems on three groups – management, staff and people of Niger Delta. “This story that we are all calling embarrassing stories cannot be complete without saying that the people of the Niger Delta region are responsible for what has happened – the fraud and corruption that have taken place in the NDDC. I’m speaking from personal experience,” she said.
It is noteworthy that all who have headed the commission are from the region. ‘Enemies’ haven’t been imported from the North, East or West to punish the people. Representatives of the local elite are the ones perpetuating the sufferings of their kith and kin.
Nunieh’s remarks underscore a recurring theme about public office in Nigeria. Those who get involved come under incredible pressure to engage in corrupt practices. It takes very strong characters to stand up to such pressures from friends, family and associates. Unfortunately, such individuals are in very short supply.
On Monday, Akpabio talked of a fourth group who have been a headache for the NDDC: National Assembly members who he claimed controlled the bulk of contracts coming out of the commission.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has taken umbrage over the minister’s claim, giving him 48 hours to name the beneficiaries. But this isn’t an accusation directed against him personally and he shouldn’t be seen to be browbeating Akpabio.
It’s not the first time that legislators would be accused of harassing ministers and MDAs for contracts. What should worry us is whether we would ever get to the point where members of the National Assembly are content to limit themselves to just legislating. But given the pressures politicians face from constituents that may not happen anytime soon.
That said, it’s okay that government has ordered the audits. It is equally fine that in pursuit of its oversight responsibilities, the National Assembly has been holding these revealing and entertaining hearings. But as is often the case, a couple of individuals would be used as scapegoats and everyone moves on with business as usual.
To ensure the long-suffering ordinary folk of the region actually get to experience rapid and sustainable development as envisioned by those who thought up the commission, the current probes and forensic audits must not be an end in themselves.
Let’s not forget that former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration established the parastatal to correct the inadequacies of its precursor – the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC).
That body was dissolved based on widespread claims of non-performance by contractors who received mobilisation money but failed to deliver. Following the sacking of its board, five different panels probed allegations of corruption, uncompleted projects, and debts owed by contractors with very little clarity in the end.
OMPADEC was established in 1993. Out of its ashes and lessons from its failings, the NDDC was born. But look where we are today. Twenty-seven years after, another series of probes have been launched to investigate the same sort of allegations that destroyed the old intervention agency.
The 2020 investigations would not amount to much unless they are followed by root and branch reforms of the organisation, such that funds voted to it get to the grassroots and local communities.
The reforms have to be implemented in such a way that parasitic politicians – be they local godfathers or legislators – who have been milking the agency for years are surgically separated from it.
That is easier said than done, but it should be the goal if government is to revive the worthy mandate given to NDDC which, sadly, its leaders through the years have failed to deliver on.