NDDC: Ogbuku Honoured Here, Honoured There

By OFONIME UMANAH

Preye Owei (not his real name) is an orphan and a school drop out from Koluama, Southern Ijaw Local Government of Bayelsa State. He used to survive from what he made out of his water snail business.

That was what he was doing to feed himself and two of his siblings, as there was nobody to look up to. On a certain Sunday, while in his local church, he prayed that God should bring helpers his way. He wanted to do something different and a bit more dignifying. He had thought of running a barbing salon, but the thought of how to rent a shop made him to have a rethink.

How would he run a successful barbing salon if he could not afford a shop and a generator, even if it had to be the “I pass my neighbour” model? He had asked himself. No answer came. The more he thought about the business, the more he got confused about what to do.

He professes Christianity and he is of the Pentecostal fold. So, he prays for every and anything he needs and looks up to God for it to manifest. And it did.

The first manifestation was that help came from a childhood friend who assisted him with two rechargable clippers. It was at that point he knew that he was close to starting his dream barbing business.

Just as he was still praying and believing God for the miracle of a shop and a generator, the NDDC lit up his Koluama community with solar street lights. That was how the idea dropped, that he could start from the street, when the area is quiet, using NDDC street light, to work at night. So, he started. And till today, each time he goes out to barb people at night on the well lit street, he remembers the NDDC and the man who initiated the Light Up Niger Delta project, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, managing director of the commission.

Owei’s vision was soon to attract his kinsman who also decided to position himself in another part of the Koluama town for the same night time barbing business. That was how a veteran roving journalist, Emmanuel Obe, saw and spoke with him.

Obe, formerly of The Punch(he actually took over from me as the Anambra State correspondent in the Onitsha office in 1998, after I was posted to Bayelsa as the pioneer correspondent), wrote this on his Facebook page: “I stayed over in Koluama I, a community at the tip of the Atlantic Ocean in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, last weekend and noticed that the streets were all lit up in the night.

“It was pleasing to see this. The street lights are powered by solar energy, and not one of the pillars had fallen down, malfunctioned or vandalised. The lights were bright enough to enable people read with them. I even came across a local barber barbering a customer’s hair under the street lights.

“It’s noteworthy that the community is not connected to the national grid and connectivity from telecoms operators. The closest they get to electricity and telephone networks are around oil company formations littered about the Delta. With security concerns in recent years, the local folks do not dare get near the oil locations.

“Unlike in the past when solar light batteries were stolen this particular lights don’t seem to have separately packaged batteries. They’re built into the lamps and they seem to be useless to vandals or battery thieves.

“I must say what I saw is commendable and will help a lot in providing security and improving life in the communities. It is in this spirit that I urge the NDDC to take it a step further by innovating a solar powered system that can put two or three lighting units in every home and provide at least phone charging points for the homes. That way living in the village will be a delight and people will not be rushing to the city to “see the light.”

Only recently, a young student was spotted on the street at night, reading with the solar street lights, due to lack of electricity in their house and his parent’s inability to afford a generator. Across the Niger Delta, most of the villages have benefited from the programme and the streets are well lit up, also making it difficult for thieves to have a field day.

This is one of the major projects undertaken by the NDDC under Ogbuku, that must have brought him all the honours and awards in the recent past. This year alone, Ogbuku has been honoured with various awards by responsible and notable media houses, including Thisday, which honoured him in January this year, for his outstanding role in the administration of the commission and for the various people-oriented projects undertaken by the NDDC under his watch.

Last weekend, it was another time for him to step out to be honoured-this time by the Sun newspapers, in what was called the public service award. Before then, in September last year, the NUJ had given him an award of excellence. The awards are just coming from all corners, and deservedly so.

Before now, there was hardly any month that youths from the region would not besiege the commission. For whatever Ogbuku did to stop that culture can be a study in humility and an open door policy in the running of a sensitive organisation such as the NDDC.

Those who have been honouring him make reference to how things have changed in the region for good. They make reference to the quality of projects undertaken by the commission and the difference they have truly made in the region, touching lives, initiating lasting legacy projects and completing those that were initiated but abandoned by past administrators of the commission.

The Sun award was presented to Ogbuku by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, at the Convention Centre, Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.  

Speaking at the ceremony, Ogbuku expressed joy over the award and remarked that it showed that Nigerians and Niger Delta people appreciated the development efforts of the commission. “The credit also goes to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is committed to ensuring the rapid development of the Niger Delta region. I am deeply honoured to be one of the recipients of The Sun Public Service Award 2024.

 “I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Board of Editors and the entire team at The Sun Publishing Limited for considering me worthy of this prestigious recognition. This selection and acknowledgement will encourage us to continue contributing to the development of our region and the nation, Ogbuku said.”

Managing Director and Editor in Chief of the Sun Publishing Company, Mr. Onuoha Ukeh, had defended the choice of Ogbuku for the award. He had said the newspaper honoured him because the NDDC under his leadership initiated and launched several transformative projects that brought remarkable development across various communities in the Niger Delta region.

 According to Ukeh, Ogbuku had reorganised the NDDC’s administrative system to expedite service delivery and demonstrated the Commission’s commitment to due process and transparency by introducing measures to build confidence and trust among all partners and stakeholders.