By Philip Ezuma, Port Harcourt
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has sued for peace and collaboration among Niger Delta leaders and youths in the development of the region.
Speaking yesterday at an Executive Management Round table Conference with selected Niger Delta Opinion Leaders and Youth Groups; the Commission’s Managing Director M and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, explained that for any community to develop, there must be peace and trust among the people and their leaders.
Dr Ogbuku furthered added. “For there to be any workable policy and vision, there must also exist transparency and sustainability that will have direct impact and transformation on the people.”
“As time goes, more windows will be opened, to ensure more youth groups are effectively carried along, in the mainstream of things in the commission. The Commission will partner with the bank of Industry and other relevant agencies, to ensure loans are given out to those engaged in petty businesses, as a way of directly empowering them.
“I can tell you that the Commission is doing a lot. We have agreed to partner with the bank of Industry to ensure our people are empowered economically”, Chief Ogbuku said.
He recalled that in the past, the commission had carried out a lot of projects in the region, but said it is time to revive those projects to ensure, they still serve the people, saying it was the reason the Commission thought it wise for their maintenance, and considered the youths to be directly engaged and help in any way possible, to put food on their tables, in order to sustain the needy people in the region.
Chief Ogbuku who was a key officer of the Ijaw Youth Council IYC, advised the youths not to play into the hands of deceitful politicians that would want to use them to cause problems in the region, but to be focus in their dreams and aspirations, as the Commission will stop at nothing, to ensure youths in Niger Delta are actively involved in things meaning, hence the its various empowerment initiatives.
“Let me also advise the youths. Don’t be used by greedy politicians to cause problems in our communities. The time for that has passed. We should move on and think of how we can develop our region”, he advised.
Speaking further, the MD said more youth intervention industries will be created that will engage more than 10,000 youths, pointing out that the sudden shift to the ‘Project Hope’ was to adjust to certain unforeseen circumstances.
Dr. Ogbuku also used the opportunity to laud the president, Ashiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, the Senate President God’s will Akpabio and other critical stakeholders for their contributions to the development of the region.
More youth groups spoke differently in their goodwill messages even as they commended the Commission for the project ‘light up the Niger Delta’ region.
