Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, says it is ready to partner with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, UNITAR, to find solutions to the environmental challenges hampering the efforts to develop the Niger Delta region.
The NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, stated this during a courtesy visit by the team leader in the Strategy, Planning and Coordination Section of the United Nations Satellite Centre, UNOSAT, Mr. Olivier Van Damme, at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.
Ogbuku, who was represented by the NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Sir Victor Antai, said it was a very auspicious to work with UNITAR, which had the required capacity in the training and empowerment to tackle environmental challenges.
Ogbuku urged the UN Satellite Centre hosted at the UNITAR to proffer long-term solutions to environmental challenges such as flooding facing the Niger Delta region because temporary solutions were not sustainable.
He said: “We are ready for partnership in finding a lasting solution to the perennial flood in our region, noting that solving the flood challenges of the Niger Delta region could not be addressed by the NDDC alone as it called for collaboration between the Commission and other development agencies.
“At NDDC, our focus is not just on building physical infrastructures but also developing human capital and protecting our environment.”
Responding, the UNOSAT technical team leader, Mr. Olivier Van Damme, said that the mission of the UN Satellite Centre was to promote evidence-based decision making for peace, security and resilience, using geospatial information technologies.
He said: “We are engaged in environmental conservation including flood management. We are focused on developing capacity. We work with our partners to offer Artificial Intelligence- enhanced flood monitoring systems.
“We support governmental, non-governmental and international organisations in enhancing their capacities by offering customised learning solutions that fit their respective needs.”
Earlier, NDDC Director, Environmental Control and Protection, Engr. Onuoha Obeka, said the Commission was continually looking for ways to enhance the development process in the Niger Delta region, noting: “We want to be able to use data to foresee disaster and plan to mitigate the effects. A collaboration with UNOSAT will also help us to train NDDC staff in that critical area.”
Obeka said that a collaboration with UNOSAT would help the NDDC to integrate and analyse geospatial information in a comprehensible and easy to use format, to strengthen disaster and climate resilience, as well as support sustainable development policies.
