High hopes as NDDC organises Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit 2024

The Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit 2024, organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), is scheduled to take place from Wednesday, 10 July to Saturday, 13 July in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

President Bola Tinubu is expected to attend the summit as a special guest of honour, while former President Goodluck Jonathan will be the chairperson of the summit.

The event, which will be held at Dr. Obi Wali International Conference Centre in Port Harcourt, is expected to attract other top government officials, policymakers in the oil and gas sector, and community and youth leaders from Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.

“The essence of this summit is to develop strategies for economic growth and development of the Niger Delta Region, to translate the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Action Plan and to articulate a roadmap for sustainable development of the Niger Delta Region,” the NDDC said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

The current NDDC management, since it was set up in August 2023, appeared to have successfully moved the commission away from scandals and internal wrangling which had bedevilled it in the past.

The NDDC management, led by the Managing Director, Samuel Ogbuku, anchors its activities on its new policy called Triple-T policy – Transiting from Transaction to Transformation.

Mr Ogbuku, in May, told media executives in Port Harcourt that he and other members of the NDDC management are committed to improving the successes of previous administrations while correcting past mistakes.

“Government is in continuum. Although it is more difficult and expensive to complete an old project than start a new one, we are committed to completing and commissioning all our legacy projects.

“Today, the NDDC is meeting Niger Deltans at their points of need, linking communities that hitherto had no connecting roads between them. The 27.5 kilometers Ogbia-Nembe Road incorporates seven bridges, linking 14 communities. The 6 kilometers road and 600 meters bridge in Ibeno, links 20 communities in Akwa Ibom State. We just commissioned the 132/33KV Sub-station in Okitipupa, Ondo State, to provide power to over 2,000 communities in five local government areas which had been without power for the past 15 years,” he said.

On the forthcoming summit, Mr Ogbuku said it is necessary to have the people of the Niger Delta take active part in the region’s development process and to understand the significance of the programmes and projects of the NDDC, according to a statement issued on 1 July by the NDDC Director of Corporate Affairs, Seledi Thompson-Wakama.

The managing director said that President Tinubu has directed the NDDC to complete and commission signature projects aimed at improving the lives of the people in the Niger Delta region.

“This is clearly a different NDDC that we’ve known since. This NDDC is different, and it’s changing the narratives,” a Facebook user, Preye Samuel, wrote on the social media site about the summit.