The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, said the forthcoming Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit 2024 would help the commission implement projects that would ensure the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.

Mr Ogbuku stated this on Friday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while briefing reporters on the imperatives of the summit, which will take place there from 10 to 13 July.

Mr Ogbuku’s remark is contained in a statement by the commission’s Executive Director, Corporate Affairs, Seledi Thompson-Wakama, on Friday.

The NDDC managing director said the summit will address the aspirations and needs of the people of the Niger Delta, and noted that the summit would help the development partners in the region to harmonise their activities, rather than working at cross purposes.

NDDC, an interventionist agency, was established in 2000 to address the development challenges facing the region, which has suffered environmental degradation as a result of oil pollution and gas flaring by oil companies doing business in the region.

In the past, the commission has been criticised for not living up to the expectations of the people of the region.

Mr Ogbuku said that the summit, themed Renewed Hope for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta Region, would create a platform for new ideas and strategies to fast-track development in the region in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

The summit, Mr Ogbuku said, will provide a forum for individuals and other major “stakeholders”, including National Assembly, ministers from the region, traditional rulers and the private sector experts to discuss the region.

He said that previous engagements with various groups were instrumental to maintaining peace in various communities, adding that development could not take place in a crisis-prone environment.

Youth empowerment

Speaking on the commission’s youth empowerment programme, Holistic Opportunities Programme of Engagement (HOPE), Mr Ogbuku urged youths in the region to seize the opportunity and participate in the process.

“We encourage more persons to register because we want to ensure that our future engagements with youths will be based only on those who have registered with us in the database. That will enable us to know their areas of competence, because we discovered that our previous trainings were given to friends and family members who are probably not even interested in the training.

“Building a comprehensive data base for the youths in the region will give the commission the opportunity to plan, as well share the relevant data with other development agencies that may need them for planning,” he said.