The New Diplomat’s Board Member, Ifowodo Promises Accountable Representation
| It is indeed good times for Nigeria’s leading global Newspaper; The New Diplomat as two key figures in the set-up of the Newspaper, Victor Ndoma Egba and Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo were successfully screened by the Senate and passed fit for the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). |
Former Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba who is an in-house friend of The New Diplomat was asked to take a bow and go and will serve as NDDC’s Chairman following his nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari. In the same vein, Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo from Delta State who is a member of The New Diplomat’s Editorial Advisory Board will also serve as a member of the NDDC board as the representative of Delta State. In a statement, the Chairman of The New Diplomat Media Group, Mr. Oma Djebah, in a congratulatory message commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the appointments, stressing that it is timely and well-deserved.
“The appointment of Senator Victor Ndoma Egba and Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo and the rest of the NDDC board is a welcomed development and a well-deserved recognition for illustrious sons of the Niger-delta, I have no doubt in my mind that their appointments will bring the much-needed development to the region,” he said
Also referred to the Niger Delta Committee are: Nsima Ekere (Akwa Ibom), as Managing Director; Adjogbe Samuel (Delta), Executive Director (Project); Mene Derek (Rivers), Executive Director (Finance and Administration).
Mr. Nsima Udo Ekere, 51 will serve as the Managing Director of NDDC. Ekere is an entrepreneur and innovative thinker with a short but impactful public service career.
Proposed members are: Donatus Enyinnah (Abia); Frank George (Akwa Ibom), Prof. Brambaifa Nelson (Bayelsa), Sylvester Nsa (Cross River).
Other nominees are: Uwuilekhue Saturday (Edo); Osita Izunaso (Imo); Olatokunbo Ajasin (Ondo); Harry Dabibi (Rivers); Bernard Banfa (North Central) and Yahaya Mohammed (North-East).
VICTOR NDOMA EGBA (CHAIRMAN)
Born on the 8th of March, 1956, Victor Ndoma-Egba was a three-term Senator, representing Cross River Central of Cross River State in the Nigerian Senate from 2003 to 2015.
He was briefly at the University of Nigeria, Enugu campus before proceeding to the University of Lagos where he obtained the LL.B (honour) degree in 1977, and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1978 making him a member of the famous “1978 set” the set with the highest number of Supreme Court Justices and Senior Advocates of Nigeria.
Victor Ndoma-Egba was appointed Commissioner for Works and Transport in Old Cross River State (Cross River and the Akwa Ibom States) at the age of 27 and concurrently acted as Commissioner for Justice and pioneer Chief Executive of the States Directorate of Foods Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI); had served as Director of Cross River Basin Development Authority in the 3rd Republic and has chaired the Boards of Companies in the private sector with interest ranging from banking, construction and manufacturing.
NSIMA UDO EKERE (MANAGING DIRECTOR)
Mr. Nsima Udo Ekere, 51 will serve as the Managing Director of NDDC. Ekere is an entrepreneur and innovative thinker with a short but impactful public service career.
He studied Estate Management at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, graduating in 1986 garnering cogent national and international experiences in real estate, urban and regional planning, oil and gas, power and construction.
As a public officer, Ekere served as Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State between May 2011 and October 2012.
Prior to that, he was the Executive Chairman of the Akwa Ibom Investment and Industrial Promotion Council, AKIIPOC, the state investment agency (2007-2012).
He also served as Chairman, Ibom Power Company (2008 – 2011). He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Registered Member, Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria ESVRBN; Senior Certified Valuer, International Real Estate Institute IREI. Minnesota, USA; and enjoys associate memberships of the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation, IRRV, London
ADJOGBE SAMUEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PROJECT)
Engr. Adjogbe Ajenakevwe Samuel holds both Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri in 1998 and 2008 respectively.
He is a registered engineer of Nigeria and a corporate member of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).
MENE DEREK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR; FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION).
OGAGA IFOWODO
Ogaga Ifowodo, poet, and writer, teaches poetry and literature in English at Texas State University, San Marcos, USA. He holds the Master of Fine Art (MFA) in poetry and Ph.D. from Cornell University, New York.
Ifowodo has published three prize-winning books of poetry: Homeland and Other Poems, Madiba, and The Oil Lamp. His poems have been translated into German, Dutch and Romanian and have also been widely published in anthologies and magazines, including Voices from all Over: Poems with Notes and Activities (Oxford University Press, 2006), Step Into a World: A Global Anthology of the New Black Literature (John Wiley, 2000), The Times Literary Supplement, Poetry International, English in Africa, The Massachusetts Review. His debut fiction piece appears in AGNI.
He is a recipient of the PEN USA Barbara Goldsmith Freedom-to-Write Award and of the New Word Award of Poets of All Nations based in the Netherlands. An honourary member of the PEN Centres of the USA, Germany, and Canada, Ifowodo is also a fellow of the Iowa Writing Programme.
