NDDC Tasks Contractors, Consultants On ADR For Faster Project Delivery

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has charged contractors and consultants handling its projects across the Niger Delta to embrace Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms to ensure faster and sustainable project delivery.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, gave the charge while declaring open a three-day sensitisation programme recently in Port Harcourt, with the theme: “Enhancing Capacity for Alternative Dispute Resolution”, for NDDC contractors and consultants.
Ogbuku, who was represented by the Executive Director, Corporate Services, Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde, said the programme was informed by the recognition that while conflicts are inevitable in project implementation, their escalation can be prevented through early identification and professional management.
He noted that disagreements in the course of execution could arise from issues such as payments, variations, designs, project timelines, quality of work, measurements, access to sites, contractual obligations and relationships with host communities.
According to him, the ability to address such issues promptly could determine whether a problem is resolved within days or allowed to degenerate into a dispute lasting months or years.
The NDDC Chief Executive said the consequences of delayed projects go beyond the Commission and its contractors, stressing that communities waiting for roads, bridges, schools, healthcare facilities and other interventions bear the ultimate burden.
He listed delayed completion, increased project costs, strained relationships, litigation, claims and loss of valuable time among the consequences of unresolved conflicts.
Ogbuku described contractors and consultants as critical first responders in conflict management because of their proximity to project sites, host communities and emerging challenges, and urged them to develop capacity to identify early warning signs and negotiate effectively.
He identified negotiation, zes early dispute avoidance as key to successful delivery.

Mediation, conciliation, adjudication and arbitration as practical ADR mechanisms that could be deployed depending on the nature of disputes, adding that the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) emphasizes early dispute avoidance as key to successful delivery.
He stressed that ADR should not be seen as a means of avoiding accountability or compromising legitimate contractual rights, but as a mechanism for addressing problems intelligently, proportionately and early enough.
Also speaking, the Director of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Department, Mr. Godwin Ayewumi Ogedegbe, said the complex social, economic and environmental realities of the Niger Delta often generate tensions which, if poorly managed, could undermine development projects.
He said contractors must understand host community dynamics to ensure their interventions promote inclusion, trust and cooperation, rather than deepening divisions.
Presenting the lead paper, Prof. Isaac Olawale Albert called on the NDDC and its contractors to integrate conflict sensitivity and ADR into everyday project hnically sound projects could still fail when community expectations and grievances are poorly managed. execution, warning that technically sound projects could still fail when community expectations and grievances are poorly managed.
He identified elite capture, exclusion, local-content disputes, land and compensation issues, employment grievances and environmental concerns as major risks, and advocated stakeholder mapping, transparent communication, early-warning mechanisms and accessible grievance channels, declaring that “peace is not an accessory to project delivery; it is part of the infrastructure we are building.”

Akujobi Amadi