Stakeholders lauds NDDC on transformational leadership
...Ogbuku identifies youth empowerment, devt. as priority of NDDC
Omiete Blessing
Stakeholders under the aegis of Niger Opinion Leaders, Youth and Weighted Stakeholders, has commended the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), led by Dr. Samuel Ogbuku for a visible transformational leadership.
This as the Managing Director of NDDC, Dr. Ogbuku, has identify development and youth empowerment as most important focus of the Commission.
Ogbuku, who spoke during an interactive forum with opinion leaders and youth groups in the Niger Delta region, held in Port Harcourt, emphasised the importance of building the capacity of youths through strategic programmes as the Commission transits from transaction to transformation.
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He assured that the NDDC would continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure the durability of its programmes and projects.
Dr. Ogbuku informed the opinion leaders that the NDDC would henceforth meet with critical stakeholders on a quarterly basis to help in the formulation of the Commission’s overall strategies for the development of the Niger Delta region.
According to him: “Not until we give all our leaders, political, traditional, youths, women and other leaders in the Niger Delta that platform and opportunity to discuss what our future should be, we may not understand the direction that our people want to go.”
Ogbuku remarked that the NDDC has a duty to harness resources from different groups, noting: “We have gathered at this forum to hear from the youths; to interact with them and rub minds because we realise that we cannot be planning programmes for youths without involving them at the foundational level.
He said: “We have given more opportunities and hope to Niger Delta youths through our Holistic Opportunity Projects of Engagement, HOPE, meant to identify interests of the youths for skills training.
The NDDC boss said that the HOPE project had helped the Commission to develop a comprehensive digital repository, comprising important information about the youths of the Niger Delta region; including their qualifications, skills, interests, needs, and current employment status.
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“So far, 470,000 youths have registered in the database and we will partner with youth organisations to ensure that all our youths are registered. This database will serve as a plank for data-driven planning, enabling the formulation of impactful policies and programmes targeted at the youths.”
Ogbuku remarked that the NDDC was working with the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce in the training of youths and young entrepreneurs in the Niger Delta region. He explained that the Commission would collaborate with the Chamber of Commerce to support Small and Medium Enterprises in the region and ensure the sustainability of youth development programmes.
He said further: “We will soon hold a Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit and the youths must be a part of it. We need to continually provide the platform for all our stakeholders to contribute ideas for the development of the Niger Delta region.
Ogbuku urged Niger Deltans not to allow politicians to destabilise the NDDC, as such action was bound to hinder the development and sow the seeds of discord among Niger Deltans.
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Meanwhile, a coalition under the aegis of Niger Opinion Leaders, Youth and Weighted Stakeholders has commended the transformational leadership of the NDDC led by Ogbuku.
Deputy President of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Freedom Atigbi who spoke on behalf of the coalition at a press conference in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the leadership of Ogbuku “is at its best where dialogue and accountability is on display”.
The coalition described the management led by Ogbuku as “a movement for the rebirth of a functional NDDC that transits from transaction to transformation. It is an idea which has come to give a new dimension to leadership in the NDDC and our region”.
Noting the Commission as a strategic agency to manage, Atigbi described Ogbuku as the balancer and unifying power of the region. He thanked President Bola Tinubu for his visionary insight in the appointment of Ogbuku as the MD of NDDC.
He said Ogbuku “is one with the ability to achieve a balance within the NDDC staff, management and board; among exogenous forces; commission and the youths, communities, states and other stakeholders with the goal of making and keeping everyone willing and efficient participants in the policies of yef NDDC’s management ”
