November 10, 2014 – There has been a paradigm shift in the Niger Delta area since the introduction of amnesty programme which has gone a long way to calm restive youths and replace their arms with skills. That significant shift is being facilitated by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC through workshops to make this young crop of Nigerians self-reliant.
The fruits of this strategy are beginning to manifest as statistics made available by the commission indicate that a total of 5,765 youths across the Niger Delta Region have so far benefited from various programmes organised by the commission.
The empowerment programme, meant to reduce unemployment in the region, has been aptly tagged as the Niger Delta Volunteer Scheme. Throwing more light on the programme, Mr. George Turnah, Special Adviser to the NDDC MD on Youth, Sports, Culture and Women Affairs, said that the first phase would focus on engaging the skills of the youth in environmental sanitation, while the second phase would emphasize collaboration and cooperation between the commission and its development partners with a view to increasing the number of youths under the scheme.
He said that the final phase of the scheme would ensure that the young people were given opportunities to be employed in highly skilled jobs to enable the programme contribute to the economy of the region in terms of wealth creation and employment generation.
Turnah, noted that NDDC would continue to intervene in the provision of employment to the youths of the Niger Delta. “It is the hope of the NDDC that the volunteer scheme will provide multiple benefits for young people in the region where employment options are otherwise limited. The 450 Niger Delta youths participating in the scheme will earn a monthly stipend as a form of support to enable them give their best to community development in the region and in particular for their productivity.”
As would be expected, the youths were very excited by the new programme. The Chairman, Niger Delta Youth Leaders Council, Mr. Ebis Orube, said the new initiative by NDDC to help the unemployed youths in the Niger Delta was a laudable programme that would go a long way in reducing social vices associated with youths as a result of idleness.
He said: “I just hope it will accommodate as many youths as possible and at the same time become a sustainable programme. So, I advise that they involve those that are really in need of jobs in order for them to have a means of livelihood and not give out the opportunities based on political considerations.”
Mr. Joseph Nwabuakwu, a youth leader from Aniocha North Local Government Area in Delta State, was one of the many others that hailed the programme. He said he was optimistic that a better Niger Delta was in the offing, noting that the current efforts of the NDDC to turn the tide for the region were encouraging. “We can hope for a greater future for the Niger Delta, because the NDDC is transforming this region and in no distant time we shall see a greater Niger Delta region. The inclusion of the young people in its development plans also means it is going to be sustainable,” Nwabuakwu said.
“We have not yet gotten to where we should be, but it doesn’t mean we are still curled up where we used to be. The tough situation we experience in the region can be conquered when all hands are on deck. It involves the coming together of government, major stakeholders and the youths as well. The youths will take the mantle some day. So, whatever issues or programmes we have should have their interest at heart.”
For the former National President, Niger Delta Youth Movement (NDYM), Mr. Godspower Odenema, the programme was a welcome initiative as it had the potential of not only meaningfully engaging the Niger Delta’s jobless youths, but also giving impetus to the transformation agenda of the Federal Government.
According to Odenema, NDDC is making efforts to transform the Niger Delta into an economically prosperous, socially stable and politically peaceful region with this programme.
“The Niger Delta Volunteer service scheme will surely resolve many knotty problems inherent in the region,” he said.
The NDDC, he said, did very well by starting a programme that would take many youths off the streets. He further said that it would reduce the problem of youth restiveness in the region and promote stability and peace.
Before the introduction of the Volunteer Service Scheme, the NDDC had intervened in several rural communities, where many less-privileged people were empowered through skill acquisition programmes. In some of these communities in Cross River State, the beneficiaries of the empowerment programmes were full of praises for the interventionist agency.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Christiana Eyamba, from Obanliku Local Government Area of the state, said the cassava grinding machine she received through the programme would boost her garri production. She said she had since longed for a grinding machine to enable her to process more cassava and produce garri in commercial quantity. “I needed it, because we plant plenty of cassava in our area; with this machine I can now employ people to help me to grind.
Eyamba said that the skill acquisition programme and the starter packs given to them would go a long way in assisting the beneficiaries, because it would enable them to make more money and train their children in school. “We are going to produce garri in large quantity and we will sell to people from far and near; it will yield more money to us and the community,” she enthused.
Another beneficiary, Mrs. Roseline Adie, from Ikom, said the programme which was organised by the NDDC with the aim of fighting poverty at the grassroots, was a good and progressive effort. She noted that the sewing machine she got from the commission would assist her to expand her business and take care of her family.
“It is my belief that when we develop and empower young people, we are bound to reduce crime and violence in the Niger Delta region. We also check kidnappings and vandalism of public infrastructure, especially oil installations, which are negatively affecting our economy today.” That succinctly summarizes the position of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, as espoused by its Managing Director, Sir Bassey Dan-Abia, at the 1st Niger Delta Regional Youth Conference on Ethics and Value Re-Orientation, held at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt.
At that crucial conference, the NDDC articulated a 3-point agenda of capacity building, wealth creation and employment generation for the youths of the Niger Delta region. The action plan was the interventionist agencies’ affirmation that the youths of the region hold the key to the peaceful development of the future.
According to the Managing Director, the 3-point agenda for youths was significantly focused on deepening youth development and empowerment through re-orientation; rehabilitation and re-integration, to enable them contribute positively to the growth of the region.
Dan-Abia said that the new action plan was a timely prescription to addressing the myriads of challenges faced by youths of the region with a view to creating a peaceful, secured and prosperous Niger Delta for all. “We are of the view that sustainable youth development and empowerment that will unlock the potentials of young people is a must do,” he said.
The NDDC boss stated that the youth conference was aimed at deepening development in the region with emphasis on raising world-class youths with the requisite skill and inventiveness to meet contemporary challenges in the oil-rich region.
He said that it was only through moral rejuvenation and ethical re-orientation that we could achieve sustainable youth development and empowerment, noting that the philosophy of the conference was hinged on the bed-rock of a deep concern and the need for total re-orientation of youths of the region.
The Chairman of the NDDC Governing Board, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, spoke along the same line, noting that the commission was putting a lot of emphasis on taking care of the youths of the Niger Delta. He observed that the youth conference was part of the new thrust of the NDDC to enhance its service delivery.
Senator Ewa-Henshaw assured the youths that the commission would partner with them for appropriate training and mentorship, stating that the commission was determined to transform the Niger Delta in line with the development agenda of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
In his contribution, the NDDC Director of Youths, Sports, Culture and Women Affairs, Prince W. Alazigha, said that the importance of youths in any society could not be over-emphasized, adding that they bear the brunt of most societal inadequacies. On account of this fact, he said that the NDDC had since inception mounted various skill acquisition programmes to train the youths of the Niger Delta.
