By BARBARA KALU, Port-Harcourt –
Leaders of Ethnic Nationalities, Professional Bodies and Critical Stakeholders from the Niger Delta Region, have applauded the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for its massive electrification of rural communities through the Light Up the Niger Delta project.
The National Chairman of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Senator Emmanuel Ibok-Essien, gave the plaudits when he led leaders of various groups to meet with the NDDC management team at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.
Present at the interactive session were the NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku; the Commission’s Executive Director Finance and Administration, Alabo Boma Iyaye; the Executive Director, Projects, Sir Victor Antai; the Executive Director Corporate Services, Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde; the Representative of Rivers State on the NDDC Board, Chief Tony Okocha, as well as other directors of the Commission.
In an address read on behalf of the visiting delegation, Senator Ibok-Essien said that the leaders were delighted by the efforts of the NDDC to light up communities across the Niger Delta states, noting that it would help in fighting criminality in the region.
According to the leaders: “The rural electrification projects have not only enhanced the aesthetics of these areas but also contributed to reducing nocturnal security challenges. We encourage the Commission to extend this initiative to all communities and ensure the training of local manpower for the effective maintenance of these facilities.
“We also appreciate the Commission’s efforts in road construction and rehabilitation, as well as human resources development through educational scholarships, women and youth development programmes, vocational and skills acquisition initiatives.”
“We are glad to note the successes you have recorded, such as your Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited, NLNG, on shared aspirations and that on corporate governance with KPMG. We do hope to see that these interactions and engagements will generate positive fruits of development soonest.”
Addressing the Niger Delta leaders, the NDDC Managing Director, Dr Ogbuku, announced that the Commission would hold a Niger Delta Stakeholders’ Summit in July to articulate new strategies for driving the development of the Niger Delta region.
He remarked: “One of the cardinal policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is stakeholders’ engagement and that is one area the NDDC is doing very well and we are getting good results from it.”
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer affirmed the positive impact of the “Light Up the Niger Delta” campaign, which he observed had reduced criminality in the various communities and enhanced commercial activities in the areas.
He noted: “We decided to adopt the clean energy approach which not only provides light but helps in the fight to mitigate the effects of climate change on our environment and earn carbon credits for the Commission.”
Ogbuku told the leaders that the NDDC had embraced a Triple-T Policy which represents Transiting from Transaction to Transformation, emphasising transparency and accountability. Along this line, he said, the Commission was making progress with its youth development and empowerment scheme, known as Holistic Opportunities, Projects and Engagement, HOPE, which was building a comprehensive database of the youth population of the Niger Delta region.
He called on the youths of the Niger Delta region to ensure that they were registered on the website of project HOPE, which would benefit all Niger Delta youths.
Ogbuku said further: “We have also inaugurated the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture, NDCCITMA, which along with the Bank of Industry will serve as a platform for supporting young entrepreneurs in the region on a sustainable basis.
Speaking on other programmes of the Commission, the NDDC boss said that the World Health Organisation, WHO, had agreed to partner the NDDC to implement a Health Insurance Project, as well as other health programmes that would benefit the people of the Niger Delta region.
Ogbuku said: “The World Health Organisation is exploring collaborations with us on our health programmes, especially the free medical missions. The participation of WHO in our medical outreach programme will ensure that those vaccines that we don’t have access to, are procured through them for the benefit of our people.
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