By Ekpo Okemini, Umuahia
Leaders of oil producing communities in Abia state have hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Nwogu Nna Nwogu as commissioner representing the state on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The appointment has received extensive celebrations in Asaland in Ukwa West Local Government Area of the state where it derived its status as an oil producing state and even beyond the area.
Speaking to Thisage on the development, the President of Ukwa Youth Initiative for Sustainable Development, Chinwe Sterling, commended the president for “doing the needful at the most auspicious time.”
He said by this act, Buhari had written his name in gold in the minds of the people and has also given them cause to believe in his sincerity to tackle their old-age challenges as oil producing community.
Sterling, who was the chairmanship candidate of All Progressive Congress (APC) for the area in the December 2015 local government election, said the nominee had been working hard for the interest of the party across the state.
Similarly, Executive Director of Centre for Equity and Eradication of Rural Poverty (CEERP), Don Ubani expressed delight at the announcement, saying the presidency had acted promptly and wisely.
According to the publicity secretary of the state chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Okwubunka of Asaland, “We cried out and they heard. We believe that justice has been done”.
He said the earlier attempt to appoint an outsider from the communities to the board was a blunder and an attempt by an intruder to usurp the position, adding “that was why we rose in unison against it.”
Another stakeholder, Gospel Adiele commended the federal government for “doing the right thing by picking Nwogu”, assuring that he would represent both the interest of the communities and the state.
Until the announcement of the appointment, the state had been left without a representative on the current NDDC board, which was inaugurated on October 11, 2016.
The Senate rejected Hon Donatus Nwankpa, who was initially nominated to for the post, on the ground that he is not from the oil producing area of the state as stipulated in the NDDC Act.
The appointment came barely two weeks after both the federal and state governments argued on whether the federal government did not neglect the communities.
At a town hall meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo and leaders of the communities in Umuahia, the Abia state capital, the governments had each held strongly onto their positions on the matter.
Osinbajo had announced that the federal government had earmarked several projects to address the challenges facing oil-producing communities across the country.
He had said the project-included provision of basic social amenities, infrastructure development, completion of abandoned projects, and stepping of security of lives and property.
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