The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will prioritize human capacity development and ensure Niger Delta youths are engaged in more productive activities Udengs Eradiri, the Special Adviser on Youth Matters to the Sole Administrator of the commission has said.
Eradiri said this while meeting with executives of the Nembe-Brass Youths in Diaspora in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Eradiri noted that the current NDDC led by Effiong Okon Akwa will ensure Niger Delta youths are trained and provided with the needed capacity to participate in the oil refining business.
This, according to him, is in line with the federal government’s drive to establish modular refineries and make our people play active roles in the petroleum industry.
“The Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State, recently built a modular refinery that is environmentally-friendly. The commission is working towards partnering with the institution to see how the federal government can replicate more of that modular refinery for our youths to operate” he said.
The special adviser noted that “Plans are underway to organize the Niger Delta Talent Hunt programme in partnership with top celebrities from the region, to identify and empower talented youths and boost the creative industry across the nine states of the Niger Delta.
”The NDDC Sole Administrator believes that if we develop the capacities of our youths and engage them productively, then militancy, illegal oil bunkering with its attendant effects will be curtailed drastically, and in turn improve the economy of the Niger Delta region.”
Eradiri also disclosed that the commission will organize a town hall meeting, preferably a virtual meeting because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the conviction that it would produce ideas that will reposition the Niger Delta for good.
He urged members of the Nembe-Brass Youths in Diaspora to think of ways they could take advantage of the immense agricultural resources that abound in the region.
He said: “You can individually or as a group invest in fish farming, snails, shrimps, crayfish, oysters and other seafood the Nembe-Brass clime and indeed the Niger Delta region is blessed with.
“Before the NDDC can give grants to boost businesses, youths need to know what they want so they can invest such grants in feasible ventures.
We have abundant snail, crayfish, shrimps and what have you. All these are products we can package and sell to the rest of the world.”
Speaking earlier, the President of the Nembe-Brass Youths in Diaspora, Timi Patrick congratulated Udengs on his appointment and expressed the group’s readiness to partner with the commission to advance the cause of the Nembe-Brass Youth in particular and the region in general.
He said that “Nembe and Brass Local Government Areas are major oil and gas producing areas in the nation, hence deserve utmost attention from the federal government especially in the provision of physical infrastructure, scholarships, youth empowerment, and marine safety and security.”
Timi, however, expressed hope that the new NDDC leadership will live up to its statutory responsibilities, knowing that the Sole Administrator of the commission is a man of integrity who not only has listening ears but also a capable team that is eager to make impact.
