By Our Reporter
PORT HARCOURT — The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, has declared that the ongoing global shift from traditional fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources presents an unprecedented window of economic opportunities for the Niger Delta region.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the Coordinating Director of the Decade of Gas Initiative, Mr. Ed Ubong, at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, Dr. Ogbuku emphasized that the Commission is aggressively harnessing the region’s abundant natural resources to drive sustainable development and industrial growth.
According to him, the NDDC has consciously aligned its regional strategies with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, specifically focusing on expanding domestic gas utilization and accelerating the adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternative fuel.
Reaffirming that the NDDC’s core mandate extends far beyond physical infrastructure, Dr. Ogbuku revealed that the interventionist agency is heavily invested in preparing the region’s youth for the emerging green economy.
”Human capital development remains a core component of our mandate,” the NDDC boss stated. “Our interventions extend beyond infrastructural development to include skills acquisition, capacity building, and economic empowerment programmes.”
He disclosed that earlier this year, the Commission successfully trained about 500 youths across the Niger Delta in CNG and autogas conversion.
This initiative was designed to give young people a competitive edge in the evolving energy market.
”Gas is the future, and the NDDC is ready to embrace initiatives that position the Niger Delta to benefit from the opportunities inherent in the sector,” Ogbuku affirmed. He added that the Federal Government’s gas development framework would yield profound economic ripples across the oil-rich region, promising that the NDDC will deepen its partnership with the Decade of Gas Initiative to achieve these goals.
In his remarks, the Coordinating Director of the Decade of Gas Initiative, Mr. Ed Ubong, expressed his organization’s readiness to co-create solutions with the NDDC. He described the Commission as a premier interventionist agency whose collaboration is vital, noting that Nigeria’s broader quest for economic prosperity cannot be achieved without fully optimizing its vast gas reserves.
Ubong noted that President Tinubu’s “Gas for Prosperity” agenda serves as the anchor for the Decade of Gas Initiative, which aims to ramp up gas production, deepen domestic consumption, and create jobs.
A major priority of the initiative, according to Ubong, is fixing the country’s energy deficit. He revealed strategic plans to leverage increased gas utilization to significantly expand Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity by the year 2030.
Furthermore, addressing the rising cost of living, Ubong highlighted ongoing interventions to make Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas, more affordable and accessible.
He stated that dedicated teams are actively working with regulatory bodies to eliminate supply bottlenecks and establish fair pricing mechanisms for both cooking gas and autogas used in transportation.
To directly touch the lives of everyday citizens, Ubong disclosed that President Tinubu has approved a landmark intervention programme to distribute one million clean cooking gas cylinders annually over a five-year period, targeting five million beneficiaries by 2030.
The cylinder distribution strategy is deliberately structured to foster gender inclusion and economic independence. “The programme particularly seeks to empower women by creating a vibrant cooking gas economy in which women play active roles in distribution, retailing, refilling, and other value-chain activities,” Ubong explained.
Moving from regional synchronization to localized execution, Ubong announced that following successful launches across the six geopolitical zones, the initiative is rolling out state-level implementation.
”By the first week of July, we will commence the distribution of gas cylinders to women in Bayelsa State under the current programme,” he revealed, adding that the state is primed to benefit from the next immediate phase.
Commending Dr. Ogbuku for his visionary leadership and commitment to impactful interventions, Ubong reiterated that a tight-knit alignment with the NDDC remains the ultimate catalyst for the success of the Federal Government’s gas revolution in the Niger Delta.
