South Korea Pledges Support for Development Activities in Niger Delta

Ndubuisi Francis

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has pledged the support of the South Korean government to help the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA) achieve its objectives and mandates by keying into its developmental programmes.

The KOICA Country Director, Mr. Son Sungil, gave the assurance when he visited the overseeing director in the office of the permanent secretary in the ministry, Mr. Alfred Abah, in Abuja.
While applauding the MNDA management team for acquainting him with the activities of the ministry and the challenges confronting the region, he assured the ministry that the Korean government would help the ministry to achieve its objectives and mandates by buying into its developmental programmes.
He identified two key areas that the agency would like to partner with the ministry, listing them as information, communication technology (ICT) and capacity building. 
“ICT will create millions of jobs in education, healthcare, e-government and digital economy for both government officials and the region.
“We will adopt multi-sector approaches to tackle unemployment in the region, invest in vocational training, offer scholarships, provide high end equipment for their training to enhance the socio-economic status of the people,” a statement issued by the Director (Press & PR) in the ministry, Patricia Deworitshe, said.
In his remarks, the overseeing director in the office of the permanent secretary, Mr. Alfred Abah, expressed the readiness of the ministry to establish closer collaboration with the KOICA in order to improve the socio-economic development of the Niger Delta region.
Abah explained that the ministry was created in 2008 as an interventionist ministry with the mandate to coordinate all the activities of other development partners, international oil companies (IOCs) and intergovernmental agencies aimed at fast-tracking a seamless development strategy for the region.

According to him, the core focus of the ministry is actually focused on infrastructural development, environmental protection and remediation, coordination of development initiatives, community development and education.
Others are economic empowerment and human capital development, as well as maintenance of peace and tranquility in the region.

Abah stated that over the years, the ministry has been doing a lot in the area of community development and empowerment by initiating and implementing programmes that would improve the economic status of the people.
He stated that the ministry was ready to collaborate with KOICA to add value to what it is doing in the Niger Delta region and impact positively on the economy of Nigeria by ensuring peace and improving the quality of life of the people.