NDDC Board, Management honour late OMPADEC Pioneer Chairman, Albert Horsfall

By  Jerome Utomi

The Governing Board and Management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Thursday paid tribute to the late Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall, describing the former Chairman of the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) as an illustrious Niger Delta son whose contributions to national security and regional development will remain indelible.

The tribute was led by the Chairman of the NDDC Governing Board, Mr Chiedu Ebie, who joined other distinguished leaders, former officials of OMPADEC and NDDC, and representatives of the Niger Delta community in honouring the late elder statesman.

Chief Horsfall, who died at the age of 84, was remembered for a distinguished career in public service and national security. He served as the pioneer Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and later became the second Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS). He also served as the pioneer Chairman of OMPADEC, the interventionist agency whose institutional legacy preceded the establishment of the NDDC.

Speaking at the tribute, Ebie acknowledged Horsfall’s historic role in the development of institutional interventions for oil-producing communities across the Niger Delta. He noted that his tenure at OMPADEC represented an important chapter in the evolution of organised government intervention in the region.

The NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, also described the deceased as a pioneering figure whose contributions would remain part of the history of the Niger Delta. He noted that the region would continue to remember Horsfall for the foundation he helped establish at OMPADEC and for his wider contributions to the development of institutions dedicated to the Niger Delta.

The occasion also brought together prominent Niger Delta leaders, including the National Chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Ambassador Godknows Igali, as well as former OMPADEC directors, past Managing Directors of the NDDC and other stakeholders who came to honour the memory of the late statesman.

The presence of members of the Horsfall family and Chiefs of the Kalabari Kingdom added solemnity to the occasion, underscoring the deep connection between the late statesman, his community and the wider Niger Delta.

At the conclusion of the tribute, the NDDC formally presented its signed condolence register to the Horsfall family as a symbol of the Commission’s sympathy, respect and appreciation for the late elder statesman’s service to the nation and the Niger Delta.

In a further recognition of his contribution to the evolution of Niger Delta development institutions, the NDDC Governing Board approved the naming of an ancillary building within the Commission’s headquarters in honour of Chief Albert Horsfall.

The gesture, according to the Commission, is intended to preserve the memory of a man whose public career spanned national security, intelligence and regional development, while ensuring that future generations of NDDC officials and stakeholders are reminded of his place in the history of Niger Delta development.

Horsfall’s death has attracted tributes from across the Niger Delta and Nigeria. PANDEF, of which he was a founding member of the Board of Trustees, also described him as a distinguished national figure who played significant roles in the security and development of the country and the region.

For the NDDC, the tribute was not merely an expression of grief, but also an acknowledgment of institutional history and the enduring contributions of those who helped establish the foundations upon which present-day Niger Delta development efforts continue to build.

Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall may have passed on, but his name and legacy remain woven into the history of Nigeria’s security architecture and the evolution of organised development intervention in the Niger Delta.