The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has distributed truck-loads of relief materials to flood devastated communities in eight local government areas of Rivers State.
The materials given out include; mattresses, wheelbarrows, noodles, fishing kits, vegetable oil, blankets, cassava grinding machines, shovels, wrappers and a host of other items.
The local government areas which benefitted from the largess are, Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Andoni, Asari Toru, Tai, GokanaOgba/Egbema/Ndoni and AbuaOdual.
The chairmen of the aforementioned LGAs received the relief materials on behalf of their communities.
At the handover ceremony in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Representative on the NDDC Board, Chief Tony Okocha urged the LGA chairmen not to play politics with the materials, but should make sure they reach the most vulnerable in the impacted communities, stressing that the Presidency sent the items through the NDDC to help alleviate the sufferings of the flood devastated people.
His words: “These are not items to play politics with, we are not expecting any kind of sentiment, or bias in the distribution of these items. The items should go to those affected”.
He said in the past NDDC attracted a lot of negative perception, with people calling it names like cash cow, conduit pipe , lame-duck and other demeaning names, stressing that the present management with its caliber of tested and trusted men and women were determined to change the negative trajectories.
“As a board, I have decided that we are going to change the hitherto negative narrative that is akin to the Niger Delta Development Commission before now. Those negative trajectories pointed to the fact that NDDC was merely a cash-cow, some said it is a lame-duck, not able to churn out, or produce the essence for which it was established,” he said.
Responding on behalf of the Chairmen, Hope Ikiriko,theAhoada West local government Chairman, thanked the Presidency and NDDC for providing the palliatives for the flood impacted communities.
