MANAGING Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Nsima Ekere, has hinted that the commission would soon set up a specialised Niger Delta Development bank for the youths and other people of the region to access funds.
Assuring that the terms would be friendly, the NDDC boss also called on youths in the region to emulate the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) on acceptable and recognisable leadership.
He made this known while meeting with ex-agitators and youth leaders from the nine states of the Niger Delta, led by Israel Eshanekpe (aka General Akpodoro), at NDDC’s corporate headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
In a statement, on Thursday, by the Head, NDDC Corporate Affairs, Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, Ekere admonished the youths to give peace a chance, not to resume hostilities and shun criminality, noting that investors were considering Niger Delta as unsafe, thereby relocating from the region.
He called on the youths and other stakeholders in the Niger Delta to protect assets of the Federal Government and oil companies in their communities, thereby supporting Nigeria’s economy and put an end to recession.
He also called for continued support for the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, insisting that it had done well for the people of the region and was committed to the real transformation of Nigeria.
He assured that NDDC was committed to the economic empowerment and development of the youths and other people of the Niger Delta and restated that the modular refineries to be established in the Niger Delta would go a long way to better the lives of the youths and other stakeholders.
PANDEF, led by a former Information Minister, Chief Edwin Clark, is coordinating all the elders and leaders of the Niger Delta, with Ekere insisting that the youths must have similar body, in order to be taken seriously.
“NDDC was set up by the Federal Government to address the problem of underdevelopment of the Niger Delta region. In addition to developing the physical infrastructure of the region, the NDDC will develop the human capital in the region. One of the key areas of the development is the young people.
“The major reason for the meeting with the youths is to rub minds and agree on a sustainable economic empowerment for youths of the Niger Delta. When we talk about empowerment, it is not about giving money. We will not give you fish, but we will teach you how to fish.
“The NDDC has been mandated by the Federal Government to work out the framework with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, so that youths of communities in the Niger Delta will be empowered through the establishment of modular refineries”, he said.
Responding on behalf of the youths, Chief Fred Obe, from Delta State, lauded the NDDC Managing Director for the initiative, while admitting that lack of acceptable platform was the greatest problem facing the youths of the Niger Delta.
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