We will reposition NDDC for better service delivery – Semenitari

The Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, has pledged to reposition the interventionist agency for better service delivery to the people of the Niger Delta region. She made the commitment while addressing management and staff of the commission at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, yesterday.

The Acting Managing Director urged the staff of the commission to brace up for hard work. “We will ensure that we put the people of the region first. For that reason, we must make sure that contractors are not allowed to get away with shoddy jobs as we must insist on getting value for money spent on projects and programmes,” she said.

She said further: “Ensuring that contractors deliver quality jobs rests with the staff. If we do our jobs well, contractors cannot get away with poor quality jobs. Everyone should play his or her part. We will henceforth inspect projects before we pay contractors and only jobs verified and certified to be good will be paid for.”
Mrs. Semenitari advised the NDDC staff to dust up their service rules as she intended to work according to the dictates of the rules and guidelines of public service. She reminded them that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had set the ground rules that must be adhered to for the much-desired change in the country.
She said: “Those doing a good job will be rewarded and celebrated. But those who don’t do their jobs well should be ready to face the consequences. We need staff that are committed to the task of changing the Niger Delta region. Let us just do the right thing and it will work well for us.”
The new NDDC boss said that staff must be alive to their responsibilities by being punctual and showing dedication and utmost commitment in the discharge of their duties,stating that hard work should be the watchword in the Commission from now on.
Introducing the Acting Managing Director earlier, the Director, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Ibitoye Abosede, read the highlights of Mrs. Semenitari’s career, noting that she was until recently, the Commissioner for Information and Communication in Rivers State. He said: “Ibim Semenitari, nee Toby, is an award winning investigative journalist, editor and publisher who worked for 26 years with some of Nigeria’s and America’s leading titles. She has also worked as Journalism Trainer/Editor with the BBC World Service Trust.”
In the brief citation, Mr. Abosede further stated: “She was the first Nigerian female journalist to win the CNN African Journalist of the Year Award. She won 2nd place, print journalism in the CNN African Journalist Award in 1977 for her reports in the Nigerian print media. She is a two-time winner of the Nigerian Media Merit Award and a three-time winner of Diamond Award for Media Excellence amongst several others.”
Mrs. Semenitari was appointed on December 21,2015 to replace Sir Bassey Dan-Abia who was a member of the 4th Governing Board of the NDDC dissolved on July 16,2015 by the Federal Government.