By Emmanuel Nlewedum
Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs. Ibim Semenitari has called for improved partnership from stakeholders in Niger Delta to drive development in the region.
Semenitari made the call during the 2016 Partners for Sustainable Development (PSD) Forum with the theme: “Effective Collaboration in the Development of the Niger Delta Region” held Tuesday at the Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt.
The NDDC boss who identified all youths, men, women and traditional rulers of all communities in Niger Delta as major stakeholders, stressed the importance of partnership in driving development in the region.
In her paper titled; Partnership/Partnering; Strategies to Deepen Collaboration with Tiers of Government and Development Agencies, Mrs. Semenitari stated that all stakeholders and partners including the government have critical roles to play in-terms of protecting development projects cited in the communities of the Niger Delta States.
She urged communities to do their best in safeguarding investments by government and its partners.
“PSD is a platform for collaboration amongst development stakeholders of the Niger Delta region.
“What we are doing here is to seek collaboration of our partners to protect investments. The communities are critical stakeholders and partners with NDDC,” she said.
Speaking at the event, former governor of old Rivers State and Amayanabo of Twon Brass, King Alfred Diette-Spiff noted that all hands must be on deck to make Niger Delta an enviable region not only in the country but the continent and world in general.
“Niger Delta is supposed to be a tourist destination. We the people of Niger Delta should work to build industries and make the region an economic hub for the country and world at large.”
In their contribution, participants at the event recommended that it is high time the federal and state governments, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) start rewarding non-violent youths of the region and not the case whereby only ex-militants and cultists are carried along by offering them huge sums of money as amnesty and thereby making militancy and cultism a lucrative deal for youths in the region.
They further lamented that, “even when civil servants are begging for their N18,000 minimum wage to be paid, ex-militants are being paid more than double of the workers minimum wage, and they are not owed.”
