NDDC: We’ll Continue to Explore Creative Human Resources of N’Delta

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has stated that it is strategically opening new frontiers to explore the creative human resource of youths in the region under its Holistic, Opportunity Project of Engagement (HOPE) initiative.

The NDDC Project HOPE initiative was unveiled in July 2023 with the promise to create 1,000 jobs through strategic partnership and skill development of youths in each of the nine states of the region.

In his assessment of the impact of the project so far, the NDDC Managing Director, Samuel Ogbuku, expressed delight that over 300,000 youths from the region have so far registered on the project HOPE data registration platform to be part of the initiative.

Ogbuku reassured the region that the HOPE initiative is real, and would be sustained, adding that the data base will not only help the commission to select the right persons, but will help to monitor their progress.

According to him, “NDDC is using technology to ensure that youths of the region do not need to know anybody before being enlisted into the NDDC HOPE programme.”

Speaking also, the Project Coordinator of NDDC Project HOPE, Blessing Fubara, said more youths in the region would be engaged in the initiative following the commencement of the Music and Arts (MAP) component of the HOPE project.

Fubara clarified that the Music and Arts component is one of the five spectrum of engagement of youths in the Niger Delta under the project HOPE initiative to encourage the creative industry.

He noted that there are other areas of intervention, including the NDDC Internship programme, Niger Delta Youth Technology programme, as well as the Desk for Entrepreneurial Support N–DESK. Fubara also explained that the agriculture sector would also be tapped into with the 9-9-9 initiative.

In his remark, the Executive Director, Projects of NDDC, Victor Antai, urged youths in the region to leverage on the opportunities provided by all the component in the NDDC project HOPE and be part of the initiative.

Similarly, the NDDC boss, Ogbuku, said engagements with various stakeholders would take the spotlight in 2024.

Speaking during an interactive session with NDDC management and staff at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, yesterday, Ogbuku said such engagements would help the commission implement projects that would ensure sustainable development of the Niger Delta region and address the aspirations and needs of the people of the region.

 The managing director stated that the NDDC would host a stakeholders’ summit in March to provide a platform for new ideas and strategies to fast-track development in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Ogbuku urged the management and staff of the NDDC to brace up to tackle the challenges of driving the process of development in Nigeria’s oil-rich region.

He commended the efforts of the staff in the past year, charging them to prepare to do more as a lot was expected from the commission. “The president has high expectations of us, especially to change the narrative of the NDDC and the Niger Delta region,” Ogbuku said.