The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) says it is working with stakeholders on a new plan to further bolster the economy of the oil-rich Niger Delta region, estimated at over N51 trillion, by the organised private sector (OPS).
Samuel Ogbuku, managing director of the NDDC, said in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday, that the commission was working on a summit slated for July 10-13, 2024, to help to build synergy for sustainable development of the region.
Groups have for years yearned for an economic summit to plot the economic development of the oil region, boost infrastructure and human capital development which are pivotal to the economic transformation of the area.
Speaking during an interview with newsmen at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, the NDDC CEO stressed the importance of engaging stakeholders to come up with strategies for economic growth and development in the region.
According to a maiden statement issued by the new director of communications, Seledi Thompson-Wakama, the NDDC CEO remarked that stakeholders’ engagement was one of the cardinal points in the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Thompson-Wakama quoted the MD to have declared, “The importance of stakeholders’ engagement is to ensure that projects and activities of government are well understood by the people to create room for synergy.
“Mr. President cannot be talking about Renewed Hope Agenda and his plans for the people of the region without giving the people opportunities for conversations to discuss the plans for them to make inputs where necessary.”
The MD said the plans for renewed hope have to be people-oriented; hence, the people must participate in the process. “Moreover, the democracy we are practising today is a participatory one where you must bring the leadership and followers together for proper understanding of policies and programmes.”
Ogbuku explained the meaning of renewed hope to be about touching lives, saying 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.
“The whole idea is to ensure the people of the region key into the renewed hope for sustainable development, support programmes and activities of government so that we as a region can benefit immensely from the government.”
Ogbuku noted that President Tinubu had charged the NDDC to complete and commission signature projects that would impact the lives of Niger Deltans.
Also speaking on the upcoming Niger Delta stakeholders’ summit, Idaere Gogo Ogan, chairman of the Niger Delta Chambers of Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture, (NDCCITMA), said it has become imperative to have a strategic conversation on the roadmap for the Niger Delta region.
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