By Ovasa Ogaga,
The Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA) was established in 1976 via Decree 37 promulgated by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. Its functions amongst others include development of irrigation schemes for crops and livestock production and other agricultural purposes. Over the years, the agency has established several agricultural pilot schemes including fisheries at various sites across the Niger Delta.
However, over the years, the instrument establishing NDBDA has either been consolidated or readjusted by other decrees in terms of mandate with direct agricultural production excised from its functions and termed Water Resources Development Agency. Its boundary was also readjusted leaving 18 out of 25 local government areas in Delta state in the scheme. The local government areas include Bomadi, Burutu, Ethiope East, Ethiope West, Isoko South, Isoko North, Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West and Okpe LGAs. Others are Sapele, Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Udu, Uvwie, Patani, Warri South, Warri North and Warri South West Local Government Areas.
The readjustment of the boundary places Rivers State, Bayelsa State and 18 Local Government Areas of Delta State under the jurisdiction of this strategic agency of government with its functions expanded to cover development of surface and underground water resource for agricultural and domestic water needs of the people; construction of dams, wall boreholes and drainages etc, for irrigation and other purposes; collect and collate data for comprehensive master plan on water resource use, socio-economic and environmental well being of the River Basins; construct, operate and maintain sensitive infrastructure such as roads and bridges that are germane to smooth businesses in operational sites of the Agency among others.
From the foregoing, the strategic importance of this agency to the socio-economic development of the mandate area cannot be over-emphasized. Water may be everywhere in the Niger Delta but safe and portable drinking water or for other domestic and commercial purposes are not readily available. It is obvious that the sensitive areas of concern in the Niger Delta where this agency plays critical roles like the development of irrigation schemes for agricultural purposes, building of dams, roads, bridges and water schemes in its mandate areas, places the agency at the very core of government developmental goals for the area. The Ministry of Water Resources has enormous budgetary provisions for all these schemes with support from international donor agencies like World Bank, IMF, USAID, etc which commit billions of naira to development of water resource schemes across Nigeria annually.
The area of concern in this piece is management of the River Basin authority over the years. NDBDA is headed by a Managing Director/CEO with four Executive Directors in charge of the four major departments crucial to delivery of its mandate in line with the instrument establishing it. The four departments include Administration and Finance; Planning, Investigation and Design; Engineering Department and Services Department.
Since the inception of the NDBDA in 1976, there had been 13 heads of the agency drawn from either Rivers or Bayelsa States to the total exclusion of Delta State either by deliberate fault or calculated attempt to undermine the interest of Delta State. Those who have served as heads of the agency include J.D Briggs from Rivers State designated then as Executive Secretary from 1977 to 1980 and A.M Ndiomu from Bayelsa State, designated as Acting General Manager from 1980 to 1981. Engr B.J Samuel Horsfall from Rivers State took over as substantive General Manager in 1981 and was there till 1984.
Engr G.B Eguwe from Bayelsa State assumed office in April 1984 as Acting General Manager till 1985. In 1985, S.O.L Amadi Nna of Rivers State took over as substantive General Manager till 1989 when Engr B.A Lawson also from Rivers State stepped in as General Manager for 10 years between 1989 and 1999. Hon Desmond Akawor and Surveyor R.O Allen, both from Rivers State also served as General Manager of the agency from 1999 to 2003 and 2003 to 2009 respectively.
In 2009, Engr Dickson Ahagbuje from Edo State was appointed acting Managing Director. He served till the appointment of a substantive MD in 2011 in the person of Mr N.M Aleru of Rivers state. After three years, Aleru handed over to Hon O.E Beredugo of Bayelsa State who served as Managing Director from 2014 to 2017. Beredugo was succeeded by Engr Tonye David West of Rivers state who was Managing Director of the agency from 2017 to 2020. Today, Engr M.D Derefaka is the Managing Director of the NDBDA since 2021. Derefaka is also from Rivers state.
From the above analysis, it is obvious that Delta State has been the weeping baby of the agency since inception. While Rivers State has produced 9 MDs spanning over 30 years, Bayelsa state has produced 3 with Edo state having one acting MD. While time and space will not permit detail analysis of the distribution of heads of the four departments of the agency since 1977, information available indicates that even those HODs have been skewed in favour of either Rivers or Bayelsa state making one to wonder whether it was a mistake for Delta State to be included among states under the mandate area of the agency.
As the tenure of the incumbent Managing Director inches closer to an end, this is the time for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to look in the direction of Delta State in appointment of the next Managing Director of the agency to clear the doubts in the minds of most Deltans. For an Agency which was established since 1976 for three states to have been managed for almost 50 years by two of the three states it covers is an aberration. This is one mistake that must be corrected by the Tinubu administration to build trust and confidence in the present administration. For too long, Deltans have been silent hoping and praying for the right thing to be done. And the time to right this wrong is now.
The 18 local government areas covered by the agency in Delta State are three times the size of Bayelsa state and also bigger than Rivers State. One wonders the criterion for appointment of heads of this agency since 1977 to the total exclusion of Delta State. President Tinubu should address this anomaly. Delta State is part of the Niger Delta and the highest oil producing state in Nigeria as at today. Taking our oil to fund critical business of government and treating Delta as second class when it comes to issues of appointment to heads of agency like this instance of the NDBDA is one bitter pill that the people cannot continue to swallow. The time to act and change the narrative is now. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the true democrat should appoint the next Managing Director of NDBDA from Delta State in the name of equity, fair play, justice and inclusive politics.
Ovasa Ogaga, a Journalist and Public Affairs Analyst writes from Asaba, Delta State.
