The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has ended the 1st Niger Delta regional youth conference.
The conference tagged: Ethnic And Value Re-orientation was held at the Atlantic Hall, Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
Declaring the conference open, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NDDC, Barr. Bassey Dan Abia said the new NDDC has three core programmes that will assist the youths in the region to reach their potentials.
The Managing Director stated that, youths are vital to the development of Nigeria without which the country cannot move forward. He maintained that the transformational agenda of the commission includes: re-focusing and re-positioning of the youths in their training with data base to find out the current position of the youths.
Dan Abia commended President Goodluck Jonathan, the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces for the composition of the national conference and its subsequent inauguration.
The MD stated that the managerial and board of NDDC will enter into a strategic partnership with the youths to bring positive progress in the region.
He maintained that the objective of the conference is to orientate the youth through moral values which is the first of its kind since it creation, Barr. Dan-Abia told the youths that the new NDDC Board has conducted a surgery on the commission which will make them to deliver on the programmes of the commission.
The MD said the three point agenda of the present administration are wealth creation, capacity building and youth empowerment which will propel development in the region on a faster lane as the commission will take proactive decision in bringing development to the area and charged the youths to shun social vices such as pipeline vandalization, oil theft, kidnapping and youth restiveness, hoping that if they development youths there will be massive progress in the region.
In his address presented at the occasion, the Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley Kuku represented by Mr. Larry Pepple said they have committed some Niger Delta youths to series of programmes ranging from pipeline welding, computer training and scholarship scheme in different universities around the world.
Mr. Kuku stated that President Goodluck Jonathan is determined to reduce youth restiveness by empowering them, while calling on them to be ethical and committed to the development of the Niger Delta. The Special Assistant to the President said the youths should not allow politicians to use them for thuggery, violence and other social vices that will slow down the space of development in the region.
Similarly, in his welcome address, the Director of Youth, Sports, Culture and Women Affairs in NDDC, Prince W. Alazigha said the youths are the most vulnerable group who could be easily lured to participate in negative social vices which are mainly caused by political manipulation, indiscipline, break-down of family values and poor education among others.
Prince Alazigha stated that NDDC skills acquisition programmes is to improve the capacity of youths to enable them realize their potential while, promising them that the current board will take them to greater height.
In his contribution, the Special Assistant to the MD/CEO on Youth, Sports, Culture, Conflict Resolution and Women Affairs, Barr. George Turner charged the youths to be committed in their endeavours to bring a desire to the region.
Barr. Turner tasked the youth to key in to the three point agenda of NDDC and make good use of the opportunity saying, if the president can govern over 160 million people in Nigeria certainly the youth can transform the region to huge development and enviable environment with the cooporation of the present NDDC management. ###
Pius Dukor
