NDDC To Host Stakeholders’ Summit In March
2 min read
Edith CHUKU
The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has announced that the Commission would host a stakeholders’ summit in March.
Ogbuku explained that the summit will provide a platform for new ideas and strategies to fast-track development in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Stating this during an interactive session with NDDC management and staff at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, the NDDC boss outlined the Commission’s plans for 2024, stressing that stakeholders’ engagements will set the tone for its activities.
He noted that engagements with various stakeholders will take the spotlight this year, adding 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.
According to Ogbuku, “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.
“Rather than working at cross purposes, the summit would help the Commission to harmonise its activities in the Niger Delta region. Priority would be given to capital projects with less emphasis on recurrent expenditure.”
The NDDC MD while commending management and staff for their efforts in the past year, also urged them to brace up to tackle the challenges of driving the process of development in Nigeria’s oil-rich region.
He further charged 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.”
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. According to him “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.”
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.
