– Stresses stakeholders’ engagement
Eunice Imo Kalu
Lagos — The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has outlined the Commission’s plans for 2024, stressing that stakeholders’ engagements will set the tone for its activities.
Speaking during an interactive session with NDDC management and staff at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, Ogbuku stated that engagements with various stakeholders will take the spotlight this year.
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.
The Managing Director noted that the NDDC would host a stakeholders’ summit in March to provide a platform for new ideas and strategies to fast-track development in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The summit will not just be a forum for a few individuals, but will involve major stakeholders, including members of the National Assembly, Ministers from the region, traditional rulers and the private sector to discuss the Niger Delta,” he said.
The NDDC boss also noted that rather than working at cross purposes, the summit would help the Commission to harmonise its activities in the Niger Delta region. He noted that priority would be given to capital projects with less emphasis on recurrent expenditure.
Ogbuku urged the management and staff of the NDDC to brace up to tackle the challenges of driving the process of development in Nigeria’s oil-rich region.
Ogbuku commended the efforts of the staff in the past year, while charging them to prepare to do more as a lot was expected from the Commission. “The President has high expectations of us, especially to change the narrative of the NDDC and the Niger Delta region,” he said.
In his remarks, the NDDC Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Alabo Boma Iyaye said that the story of the NDDC had changed for the better, stating: “We now know that most of the things we were hearing about NDDC are not correct. The staff of NDDC are hardworking and they are giving their all to the development of the region.”
Speaking in the same vein, the Executive Director Project, Sir Victor Antai thanked the staff for their cooperation and diligence in the discharge of their duties.
Reacting on behalf of the staff, the Chairman of NDDC Staff Union, Comrade Anthony Gbendo, thanked the Executive Management for treating staff welfare with dispatch. He also canvassed attention of management to capacity building for staff through training to prepare them for the challenges of developing the Niger Delta region.
