For three days, the personnel of the office of Executive Director, Corporate Service (EDCS) and Department of Corporate Governance and Due Process of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), converged in Lagos, for a retreat master class programme to enhance their capacity.....CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE
The capacity building retreat with the theme: “Building Synergy For Optimal Service Delivery And Effective Corporate Governance,” held at The Amber Residence, GRA, Ikeja, facilitated by Peace and Development Projects (PEDEP) and MARG Education International with resources persons from the academia and consultancy firms including KPMG, was organised to create awareness and enhance the capacity of the personnel. In his keynote address, the Executive Director, Corporate Services, Ifedayo Abegunde, emphasised the need for staff of the relevant departments and units within the NDDC to lead the charge for diligent corporate governance and optimal service delivery to enable the commission fulfill its mandate in the Niger Delta. According to Abegunde, the retreat and the master class programme is a further testimony to the determination of the Samuel Ogbuku led management, as well as the governing board headed by Mr. Chinedu Ibie to ensure that the NDDC is holistically repositioned for effective, focus-oriented and verifiable performances in line with the interventionist agenda that impact positively on the people and communities across the Niger Delta. In his presentation, titled: “Discipline Capital: Service Delivery in Corporate Governance,” Professor Sylvester Odion-Akhaine of Lagos State University, highlighted that the NDDC’s role is to drive development rather than serve private interests. He stressed the importance of the commission delivering tangible benefits, such as reducing environmental degradation, providing potable water, and creating job opportunities for the youth.
“The NDDC role is cut out for it. It is a development agency that informs its mission, vision, and values. It has somewhat of an oversight function over the activities of corporate actors in the region from which it partly draws its funds.
“But reciprocally, the contributing bodies must not be made to feel that they are wasting their money. That feeling can only be cured by the performance and delivery of services-the extent to which it can reduce environment degradation in the region, provide portable pipe-borne water, access roads to communities, provide employment opportunities to the teeming unemployed youth, and equip them with twenty-first-century accommodating skills,” he added.
KPMG Nigeria’s Managing Partner, Tolulope Odukale, also spoke on the necessity of robust governance frameworks to ensure transparency and accountability within the commission. He described the Retreat/Master Class as a pivotal moment for the NDDC as it seeks to enhance its governance and operational standards.
The Managing Partner of Teh Impeccable Skills, Seyi Olulade, discussed the significance of corporate services in the public sector, explaining how these functions are crucial for the smooth operation of organisations like the NDDC.
Also speaking, the founding Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy, and Development, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, spoke on the importance of synergy within NDDC’s governance structures, stressing the need for collaboration between the board, management, other federal agencies, and the private sector.
