NDDC’s Stakeholders summit will discuss challenging, Developmental Issues in N’Delta – Ogbuku

EMMANUEL NLEWEDUM, Port Harcourt

 

 

The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has once again hinted that it is not resting on it’s oars in fast tracking development in the Niger Delta region.

 

This is just as the Commission expressed it’s preparedness to engage all stakeholders in the region in a three-day summit in Port Harcourt from 10th to 13th July, 2024

 

Managing Director of the NDDC, Chief  Samuel Ogbuku while briefing Journalists in Port Harcourt on Friday said the summit will have former Nigerian President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, elder statesman, Edwin Clark among other critical stakeholders, including members of the National Assembly, Ministers from the region, traditional rulers and the private sector experts in attendance to discuss development issues and challenges facing the region, as well as the way forward for the Niger Delta region.

 

Ogbuku who stressed the importance of stakeholders’ engagements in the success of his administration said, the summit with theme ‘Renewed Hope for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta Region’, would provide a platform for new ideas and strategies to fast-track development in the Niger Delta in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

 

The NDDC boss stated that previous engagements with different groups were instrumental to maintaining peace in various communities in the region, noting that development could not take place in a crisis-prone environment.

 

He said, “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.”

 

He said that such engagements would help the Commission implement projects that would ensure sustainable development of the Niger Delta region and address the aspirations and needs of the people of the region, noting that rather than working at cross purposes, the summit would help the development partners in the region to harmonise their activities.

 

Recalling the rebirth and rewind policy of the commission in developing the Niger Delta region as; Transiting from Transaction to Transformation (TTT), Ogbuku disclosed that President Tinubu, had charged the Commission to complete and commission signature projects that would impact the lives of Niger Deltans.

 

He noted that the summit will also serve as an opportunity for the Commission to showcase their achievements since assumption of office.

 

He added that the Commission was also providing portable water in communities across the region, stating that this was critical at this period when cholera epidemic had become a big health challenge.

 

Giving insight on the youth empowerment programme of the Commission, tagged Holistic Opportunities Programme of Engagement, HOPE, Ogbuku called on the youths to seize the opportunity and be part of the process by registering. “We want to ensure that our future engagements with youths will be based only on those who have registered with us in the database. That will enable us to know their areas of competence, because we discovered that our previous trainings were given to friends and family members who are probably not even interested in the training.

 

“Building a comprehensive data base for the youths in the region will give the Commission the opportunity to plan, as well as share the relevant data with other development agencies that may need them for planning.

 

Ogbuku further noted that the NDDC, through the Niger Delta Chambers of Commerce is supporting entrepreneurship development by giving support to farmers and verifiable entrepreneurs in the region.

 

The Managing Director said that the NDDC had put measures in place to ensure financial discipline in the Commission. This, he said, necessitated the engagement of KPMG to design a corporate governance system for the Commission. He explained that the corporate governance structure would increase the confidence of partners that work with the Commission.

 

For a better society

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