The Acting Executive Director Finance and Administration of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr. Chris Oyirinda Amadi, has restated the commitment of the management team of the NDDC towards development of the Niger Delta and empowerment of the youths of the region as part of its determination to give the people of Niger Delta a new lease on life and ensure sustainable developmental projects in the region.
Dr. Amadi, made this known while fielding questions from delegates during an interactive session with the theme “The Role of Social Media in the Development of the Niger Delta Region” held in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, with some social media key players.
The Acting EDFA revealed that the Prof. Nelson Braimbraifa-led management team of the NDDC was poised to change the narratives by collaborating with critical social media practitioners in projecting the developmental strides of the Commission and creating a platform for further interaction with stakeholders and major players in the region across the board.
The Executive Director stated that the management team of the Commission has within three months affected lives positively through its intervention programmes in road construction, healthcare, education, power, environment and other vital areas.
“The Prof. Braimbraifa-led team has achieved quite a lot within three months of assumption of office. We have cleared all backlog of outstanding payments between 0 – 20 Million Naira owed contractors through what we call the “ageing principle” so that contractors were able to get payments from the comfort of their homes without having to come to the Commission to influence their payments.
“We have also recorded some milestones in very critical sectors like health where we have built a couple of cottage hospitals, procured medical waste incinerators and other equipments to be supplied to hospitals in the region. Currently, we have procured waste collector trucks for waste disposal to ensure a cleaner and healthier environment.
“In Education we are doing a lot. We have intervened massively across all levels of education – Primary, Secondary and Tertiary institutions. We have secured scholarship opportunities with some prestigious foreign Universities in the UK and US including exchange and linkage programs between Universities in our region and the Coventry University and lots more.”
Dr. Amadi equally added that the Commission has embarked on several road construction projects in a bid to foster rapid development and improve economic activities in the region. He also encouraged the delegates at the interactive session to take full advantage of the enterprise efforts of the Commission which is geared towards creating a plethora of opportunities for Youths and women of the Niger Delta region to ensure they are meaningfully engaged.
An especially significant part of the event was the presentation of an Award of Excellence to the Ag. EDFA as an Excellent Youth Role Model in the Niger Delta by the organizers of the event.
Priestley Nna
SA on Communications to the Ag. EDFA, NDDC
