The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has revealed that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States Consulate and a United States-based Firm, to build a railway network that will connect the nine states in the Niger Delta.
The MOU was signed by the managing director/CEO of the NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, on behalf of the Commission, Mr. Chamberlain Eke, on behalf of the United States Consulate, and Mr. Tony Akpele, on behalf of AGRI during a one-day Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) Summit organized by the Commission in Lagos on Tuesday.
According to the commission, it will partner with the U.S based Firm, known as Atlanta Global Resources Inc., AGRI, to “provide locomotives, construct railway lines and operate same in the oil producing states of Rivers, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Imo and Abia.”
The commission revealed that Work on the preliminary stages of the project, the biggest in the history of the Commission, is to commence immediately.
Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, the M.D NDDC, while speaking at the summit said the NDDC was determined to renavigate the process of its intervention in the Niger Delta so that it can achieve its mandate “of facilitating the rapid, even and sustainable development of the Niger Delta into a region that is economically prosperous, socially stable, ecologically regenerative and politically peaceful.”
He stated that the MOU represented a big harvest for the NDDC from the PPP Summit.
Present at the summit includes; current members of the NDDC Board, Former M.D NDDC, Chief Timi Alaibe, former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomole, former Managing Director of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside among others.
Chief Timi Alaibe, in his goodwill message, expressed delight at the PPP initiative taken by the new leadership of the Commission.
“This is the first time in 15 years that I am attending an NDDC function. This is because the new board is charting a new course that is impressive,” he said.
Comrade Adams Oshiomole, also commended the NDDC for admitting that it had suffered from goal displacement.
“The NDDC Management and the Board have shown courage by putting the Summit together. The NDDC has our prayers and support. What is missing is not the ideas, but the courage,” he said.
Dr. Dakuku Peterside, on his part, applauded the NDDC Board and Management for striving to leave legacies in the region.
“The founding fathers of the NDDC intended that the NDDC should be a catalyst for development. The PPP arrangement is a new way of getting good results.
“There must be a fusion between the private sector and the public sector. It is important to bring in the resources and expertise of the private sector,” he added.
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