Oritsegbubemi Omatseyin
Lagos — The Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit, slated for July 10-13, 2024, at the Dr Obi Wali International Conference Centre, Port Harcourt, will help to build synergy for the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.
Ogbuku, who gave the assurance during an interview with newsmen at NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, said that the summit would serve as a platform to articulate a roadmap for sustainable development of the Niger Delta Region.
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer remarked that stakeholders’ engagement was one of the cardinal points in the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, stating: “The importance of stakeholder’s engagement is to ensure that projects and activities of government are well understood by the people.”
He emphasised the need to give the people opportunities for conversations to discuss development plans to ensure that they keyed into the renewed hope for sustainable development and support the programmes and activities of the government.
Ogbuku said further: “The plans for renewed hope have to be tailor-made. Hence, the people must participate in the process. Moreover, the democracy we are practicing today is a participatory democracy where you must bring the leadership and followers together for proper understanding of policies and programmes.
“Renewed hope means touching lives. This government is out to touch lives. Bringing the people under one roof in the Niger Delta is to let them know what the renewed hope for sustainable development is all about and how beneficial it is for the region.”
Ogbuku noted that President Tinubu had charged the NDDC to complete and commission signature projects that would impact the lives of Niger Deltans. Following this directive, he said, the Commission recently inaugurated five flagship projects, covering roads, bridges and electricity, across the region.
He listed the projects to include the 9km Obehie-Oke-Ikpe road in Ukwa West LGA, Abia State; the 25.7 kilometre Ogbia -Nembe Road in Bayelsa State; the 1×15MVA 33/11KV electricity injection substation in Amufi, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area in Benin City, Edo State; the 45km double-circuit 33KV feeder line from Omotosho Power Station to Okitipupa, Ondo State and the NDDC 6km Iko-Atabrikang-Akata-Opulom-Ikot Inwang-Okoroutip-Iwochang Road and 600m Ibeno Bridge in Ibeno LGA, Akwa Ibom State.
Speaking on the 2024 budget of the commission, Ogbuku explained that the budget was done in collaboration with major stakeholders, insisting that when approved, it would help to complete many ongoing projects spread across different communities in the region.
The Managing Director, who stressed that the Federal Government was committed to tackling the under-development in Niger Delta region, expressed joy over the passage of the 2024 budget by the Senate, as it would facilitate the speedy completion of on-going projects across the Niger Delta region.
Commenting on the Public Private Partnership, PPP, initiative embraced by the Commission, Ogbuku attributed the completion of Ogbia-Nembe Road to the gains of partnership and stated that the NDDC was in talks with Chevron for partnership in the construction of the Warri- Omadino-Escravos Road to boost oil production and other economic activities in the area.
The Stakeholders Summit represents a significant stride towards realising the region’s full potential and securing a prosperous future for its inhabitants. It is a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to unite and collaborate towards the shared goal of sustainable development.
The Chairman of the Summit Planning Committee and NDDC Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Alabo Boma Iyaye, is confident that the Summit will help to unlock the immense potentials of the Niger Delta region.
He declared: “This summit is a testament to our collective commitment to the sustainable development of the Niger Delta.”
A renowned economist and the Chairman of the Niger Delta Chambers of Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture, NDCCITMA, Ambassador Idaere Gogo Ogan, says that it has become imperative to have a strategic conversation on the roadmap for the Niger Delta region.
In his view: “The Niger Delta region, by way of economic size, combines to about 51 trillion naira today. If you put it on a comparative level, we are actually bigger than Africa’s seventh largest economy, Lagos, by almost 10 trillion naira. It gives you the picture and the reason a conversation must take place.
“Having this sort of conversation will help us to build a roadmap for economic development by highlighting the priority areas where the government is meant to invest for the socio-economic transformation of the Niger Delta region.
“We need to discuss youth unemployment and ways to scale up our natural endowments and resources. How do we monetise our gas reserves? How do we transit from gas to power? Industrialisation of Nigeria can actually take place in the Niger Delta because we have the gas, which we can convert to power.
“Discussions must take place; development does not come from only one man’s ideas. It has to go through a series of plans and strategies. Of course, no matter the best plan you have, if you do not have a well thought out execution plan, progress will be difficult.
“Development should not be haphazard or subject to the interest of one man. It should be comprehensive and holistic with a strategic outlook. Any policy that is not evidence-based cannot deliver the development needs of our people.”
The Niger Delta Stakeholders’ Summit will feature high-level keynote addresses from prominent leaders and experts across various fields, technical sessions, interactive panel discussions on key thematic areas and networking opportunities for stakeholders to forge partnerships. The highbrow event is expected to come up with policy recommendations that will serve as a compass for the development of the Niger Delta region.
