NDDC Unveils Project to Address Needs of Niger Delta Youths

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) under the leadership of Samuel Ogbuku, has disclosed that it has come up with a pilot scheme to address challenges of youth restiveness, and give succour to youths in the region.

The scheme known as Holistic Opportunities, Projects and Engagement, (Project HOPE), is a platform on which youth of the region would benefit and make unprecedented progress.

Project HOPE was designed to create a comprehensive potential resources database of the youths population of the Niger Delta region, with a focus on their needs, qualifications, skills, passion, interests, and  employment status.

The development is coming after years of unplanned and mismanaged projects execution in the region.

Speaking on the project, the Executive Director in charge of Projects in NDDC, Charles Ogunmola, said the Board came prepared with new ideas to focus, execute the right programmes and deliver people-oriented projects.

He stated that Project HOPE comprises both human capital development and human capital determination.

 Ogunmola further assured that Project HOPE, would create 1,000 jobs in each state of the Niger Delta region by securing sustainable international and local partnership for the establishment of multi-agro processor industries, internship development, training opportunities, Chamber of Commerce and overall youth engagement statistics, which would rely on community-government-corporate partnership model for land acquisition for the project.

Also speaking, the resource person for Project HOPE, Blessing Fubara, said the time had come for a serious development model to kick-off in the Niger Delta region.

“The Samuel Ogbuku and Charles Ogunmola-led board of the NDDC has brought HOPE to Niger Delta youths. So I think it’s time for serious business.

“The Project HOPE is designed to deploy the first Niger Delta Youth Potential Resources Database System, which is qualification, skills, interest, status and passion identification.

“This will then give us the parameter for employment generation, youth empowerment, and capacity development in the region.”

Fubara added that the first strategy of the project was designed to create 9,000 jobs, 1,000 per state, through the development of agro-allied partnered industries in the nine states according to their potential and resources.

 “In Abia State, Project HOPE will set up a Textile Village and a commercial vegetable farm plus a processor industry in farm, while a poultry and egg hatchery plus a processor in farm will be set up in Akwa Ibom State.

“Bayelsa State will host a plantain/banana plantation and snail farm for export, plus a processor industry in farm, while Cross River State will house a rice plantation and a processor mill in farm.

“An automobile village and aqua culture and processor in farm will be set up in Delta State, while Edo State will host a cassava plantation, and a processor industry in farm, as well as a furniture village.

“Ondo State will enjoy a livestock and dairy farm plus a processor industry in farm, while Imo State will accommodate a sugarcane plantation and a processor industry in farm, and Rivers State will host the Tech community, onshore and offshore fish farming plus a processor industry in farm,” he narrated.

Project HOPE has also created other areas of youth engagement like: the Niger Delta Music and Arts Project,  encourage the creative industry, and  Simple Money (with no collateral and no interest money), amongst others.