SEDC Board Assumes Office, Promises Better Days
The Chairman of the Governing Board of the South East Development Commission, SEDC, Mrs. Lauretta Onochie, has assured that the new leadership in the Commission will work to impact positively on the lives of the people of the South East region.
Speaking at a meeting with management and staff of the Commission at the SEDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Onochie noted that “it is imperative to chart a new course for the SEDC, different from what obtained in the past.”
She declared: “We are here to do things differently. We have to work with new ideas to be able to achieve the objective of fast-tracking the development of the South East region.
"The SEDC was established specifically for the people of the South East region. As an interventionist agency, it is meant to bring prosperity to the South East region. We are here to serve the people of the region and by extension serve Nigeria. We are here to reposition the SEDC."
The Chairman said that President Muhammadu Buhari was anxious to reposition the SEDC to ensure that it worked in the interest of the people of the region. To give effect to this, she said that members of the Board under her leadership would “work as a team committed to that vision.”.
She stated: “Our interest is to improve the lives of South East people. The monies meant for the development of the South East must be used for the region.”
Also speaking, the SEDC Managing Director, Chief Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for inaugurating the SEDC Board and pledged that the members were committed to the development of the South East region.
Ogbuku stated that the SEDC Governing Board will not seek to antagonize anyone or any group, but would tap from the vast experiences of the SEDC staff and all stakeholders. The SEDC Governing Board, he said, will create an environment for creativity and ingenuity to flourish in the Commission, in order to achieve its mandate.
He said: "I want to assure you that we are not here to antagonize anybody. We are here to depend on your experience. We need your cooperation, we need your support. You need an enabling environment to showcase your ingenuity. You are well trained and experienced to give the people of the South East region the best."
Ogbuku commended the leadership of the former Acting Managing Director, Engineer Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua for guiding the SEDC through a crisis-free period.
Presenting his handover notes, Audu-Ohwavborua noted that during his brief tenure in office, the SEDC intervened to rehabilitate the flood ravaged areas of the East-West road, “to make the road motorable and provided palliatives for victims of the flood disaster in all the nine mandate states in the South East region.”
He said the Commission's 2021 and 2022 Budget was awaiting approval from the Presidency while over one thousand uncompleted projects spread across the nine mandate States of the South East region were cancelled during his two-month tenure.
Ibitoye Abosede, Ph.D.
Director, Corporate Affairs
January 5, 2023.