By Ade Oyeyemi
A former Director of Project Monitoring and Supervision at the Niger Delta Development Commission, Dr Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, has described the late elder statesman, Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall, as one of the key figures whose contributions shaped the development intervention framework in the Niger Delta.
Audu-Ohwavborua spoke during a remembrance ceremony held in honour of Horsfall at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on September 24, 2026.
Horsfall, who died recently at the age of 84, was the pioneer Chairman of the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission, the intervention agency established in 1992 to address the developmental challenges confronting oil-producing communities.
Audu-Ohwavborua said Horsfall’s contribution to the region could not be separated from the institutional history of the NDDC, noting that OMPADEC laid part of the foundation for the commission that succeeded it.
He said, “Horsfall’s contribution to the Niger Delta could not be separated from the institutional history of the NDDC.”
According to him, Horsfall was also instrumental in the development of the NDDC headquarters, having laid the foundation stone of the building in 1995.
Audu-Ohwavborua recalled that the headquarters project remained uncompleted for several years until the Federal Executive Council approved its re-award in 2017. He said the project eventually reached practical completion in 2019.
He described the decision to hold Horsfall’s remembrance at the same facility whose foundation he helped lay decades ago as significant, saying it provided a link between the region’s early development intervention efforts and the present-day NDDC.
The event also featured the signing of the condolence register by members of the NDDC board and management, as well as serving and former officials of the commission.
Among those who attended were former NDDC chief executives, including Chief Ndutimi Alaibe, Obong Nsima Ekere, Mrs Iyasere Osato, Dr Christy Atako, Mrs Ibim Seminitari, Dr Christian Oboh and Dr Enyia Akwaggaga.
Before his involvement in Niger Delta development, Horsfall had a distinguished career in Nigeria’s security and intelligence services. He was a trained police officer and among the pioneer members of the former National Security Organisation.
He later became the pioneer Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency and subsequently served as the second Director-General of the State Security Service, now known as the Department of State Services.
Horsfall also played roles in traditional and regional affairs, having served as the Omekwe Paramountcy in the Kalabari Kingdom of Rivers State and as a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Pan Niger Delta Forum.
Audu-Ohwavborua commended the NDDC Chairman, Chiedu Ebie, and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Samuel Ogbuku, for organising the remembrance, stressing the importance of preserving institutional memory.
He said Horsfall’s legacy would remain part of the history of Nigeria’s intelligence community, OMPADEC and the evolution of the NDDC, as well as the broader development story of the Niger Delta.
