A Profile of Effiong Akwa, Former NDDC Sole Administration, FCA, FCIB, B.L, PhD
A man of great intellect and deep compassion, Dr. Effiong Akwa, was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as the Interim Administrator/CEO of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in December 2020, at a time the interventionist agency was in dire need of an administrator and technocrat, strong in character and savvy enough to steady the ship of the organisation, at the height of its forensic investigation.
About twenty-four months later, when Dr. Akwa piloted the affairs of the Federal Government Interventionist agency as the Sole Administrator, it was to his credit that the negative perception of NDDC which he inherited had changed to a positive image. Hope was slowly being restored to staff and other stakeholders of the agency. Dr. Akwa later bowed out from the agency at the end of October 2022, when a new fifteen-man board was inaugurated by the Federal Government.
Born in 1966, Dr. Effiong Akwa holds a Doctorate Degree in Law (specializing in International Environmental Law) from the prestigious Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, having earned a Bachelor’s of Law Degree (LL.B) and a Master in Law (LL.M) from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Rivers State and has been called to the Nigerian Bar. In 2008, Dr. Akwa attended Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, where he undertook a course on International Housing, Finance and Mortgage Securitization. Similarly, in June 2010, he attended the Global Strategic Management Programme at Harvard Business School, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA, and a course on Persuasion/Influencing at Columbia University Graduate School of Business, New York, USA in September, 2015.
He is an Alumnus of the London Business School, London, where he attended the Senior Executive Programme on Strategy, Leadership and Transformation. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, and a Lawyer. He is a merit award recipient of the Year 2022 ICAN Merit Award.
He was engaged as the Managing Director/CEO of Akwa Savings and Loans Limited (Mortage Bankers) – a mortgage finance institution owned by the Government of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, from 2007 – 2013, where he initiated and effected turn-around strategies. Dr. Akwa thereafter served as a Special Assistant on Finance, to the Managing Director/CEO of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Port Harcourt. He was also appointed a Non-Executive Director, at Federal Housing Authority Mortgage Bank, Abuja (Representing Federal Government’s Interest) between January 2015 – August 2020. In April 2009, Dr. Akwa was appointed by the Presidency in Nigeria, to serve in the Technical Working Group of Nigeria Vision 2020, an assignment he brought his wealth of experience to bear; among others.
Under his watch (as Interim Administrator), The Niger Delta Development Commission had completed and commissioned numerous life-touching projects, including but not limited to; the completion and commissioning of the Niger Delta Development Commission’s Corporate Headquarters Port Harcourt (a project that started almost 26 years earlier); Completion and Commissioning of Ultra-modern 1050 bed space hostel in University of Uyo (a project that was abandoned for over 12 years); Building of Nigeria Police Barracks Special Protection Unit Mobile Police Base 6, Omagwa, River State; donation of Gunboats to the Nigeria Army; provision of Electricity substation to Okitipupa community in Ondo State; Donation of Science Equipment/Desks to secondary schools in Delta State; numerous skill acquisition and youth empowerment programs, medical assistance/intervention programs, education (scholarship) assistance programs in all the states of the Niger Delta Region. It is to his credit that the two chambers of the National Assembly approved the 2020 and 2021 budgets of the Commission (an exercise that was suspended for over three years).
He successfully engaged the region’s Executive Governors hence strengthening the bilateral relationship between the Commission and the region’s Governors. He has attended numerous conferences and workshops within and outside Nigeria and has presented numerous papers on Mortgage Financing, Banking, Economy, and Leadership at different fora including the 51st Annual Accountants Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
He is married and blessed with four adorable children.
