By Sam Olakunori
ABUJA – The Chairman, House Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission at the House of Representatives, Mr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has vouched not to relent in using his position to fight for the course of the people of the people of the Niger Delta region.
He said this during a stakeholder meeting with Follow The Projects and other frontline interest groups from Ondo State.
This is coming after an investigative report by TECHNOCRAT MEDIA under its Follow The Projects revealed the numerous numbers of abandoned projects in the southern area of the State.
With support from the HEDA Resource Centre and MacArthur Foundation, Follow The Projects has been working assiduously to track and report abandoned projects in Nigeria and fast-tracking contractors returning to the sites of the abandoned projects while the ones with corruption issues are tackled appropriately.
While speaking to the coalition of Interest Groups and stakeholders, Mr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo representing Akoko North West and North East Federal Consistency said there 9 states, 185 Local Governments, and 85 Federal Consistency under NDDC and as a legislative member, he has been performing the oversight functions and making sure all projects were executed and all contractors return to the site.
The lawmaker, Olubunmi said despite the pandemic, he has been working on making sure contractors on NDDC projects resume back to sites, this is why a lot of projects are currently going on in Ondo state. He also ensured the Coalition that tangible capital projects would commence soonest in all NDDC States.
The stakeholders through a joint signed position paper earlier submitted a long list of abandoned projects in Ondo State. They also listed their recommendations which include domesticating the NDDC scholarship awards, such that the awardee is sponsored in Nigerian universities. This way awardees can contribute back to their communities, as most awardees sponsored abroad don’t return home; causing a lot of brain drain.
Other Interest groups and stakeholders in the meeting include Great Patriots for Better Initiative, Niger Delta Youth Movement, Ijaw Youth Council, Solidarity for Good Governance, Ondo State Advancement for Development, Ondo South Coalition for Good Governance, Nigeria Union of Local Government and others.
Earlier, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo had received a copy of the Follow The Projects investigative report on the abandoned NDDc project in Ondo South presented by the Director, Daisi Omokungbe.
He commended the Follow The Projects team on thoroughly executed investigative research.
The leader of the coalition, Prince Biyi Poroye said the action from the stakeholders was the right step in expressing the grievances of the people while leveraging on the activeness of the lawmaker to complete all abandoned NDDC projects in Ondo State.
