By Ifeatu Agbu

The inspiring stories of Bill Gates’ Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook readily serve as reference points for the youths in nurturing their entrepreneurial dreams and positioning them to win big on innovations. Often, however, there is a challenge with providing the platform for them to hone their innate talents.

To bridge this gap and provide the stage for the youths to showcase their talents, the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has continued to come up with strategic youth development programmes, recognising that youth unemployment is one of the pressing issues facing the Niger Delta region.

It is re-assuring that the NDDC is addressing the challenge of unemployment from different fronts, the latest being the roll out of a Youth Internship Scheme aimed at building the capacity of the young ones to ensure that they are sustainably empowered.

The first phase of the NDDC internship programme launched on July 30, 2024, by the Senate President, Chief Godswill Akpabio, will engage 10,000 youths in industries and organisations that would improve their skills, while the NDDC pays them a monthly stipend of N50, 000.00 naira.

Placing youths on internship roles will allow them to enhance their technical skills and acquire practical experience in sectors such as oil and gas, hospitality, and medicine, among others, to make them self-reliant.

Providing these diverse trainings will no doubt help the youths to acquire meaningful and self-sustaining skills that would improve their lives, support their families and communities and thus reduce criminality in the Niger Delta region.

The NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, explains the rationale behind the Youth Internship Scheme, stating that it would provide relief to the youths and help them attain skills and work experience to enhance their employability and entrepreneurial capabilities.

He further notes that participants are placed in relevant industries and organisations to gain practical experience and on-the-job training. The programe includes mentorship components where experienced professionals guide the interns and after completing the internship, participants may receive support in securing employment or starting their businesses.

The NDDC has continued to emphasise the importance of building the capacity of youths through deliberate programmes in its determined march to transits from transaction to transformation.

For the NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Sir Victor Antai, the new internship scheme is a bold step towards changing the narrative of a militant Niger Delta to an intellectual activism. He affirms that the scheme is not merely a financial intervention but a symbol of NDDC’s commitment to nurturing and empowering the next generation.

Antai posits: “The Heartbeat of a nation lies in the vigour and vitality of its youth, yet in the Niger Delta, the beat has faltered under the weight of impoverishment borne out of a very difficult terrain and limited opportunities. Together, we can turn the tide of unemployment and steer the Niger Delta towards a brighter future.”

In driving its holistic empowerment programmes, the NDDC developed a new concept of working with the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce in the training of youths and aspiring entrepreneurs in the Niger Delta region.

According to the NDDC Managing Director, the collaboration with the chamber of commerce was aimed at supporting small and medium-scale enterprises.
He explained: “The Chamber of Commerce will strengthen young entrepreneurs in the region. It is no longer acceptable that our youths will be at home and be receiving stipends. Hence, we have changed the NDDC Youth Volunteer programme to Youth Internship Programme, where youths will be attached to organisations for a specified period to enhance their skills.

“The chamber of commerce will help us to ensure that the programme is sustainable. We will focus on empowering young entrepreneurs because the government cannot employ everybody.”

The NDDC boss said further that the Commission would also partner with the Bank of Industry to fund projects and support businesses to facilitate the success of the Commission’s youth development programmes.

With the Bank of Industry in the mix, youths in rural areas can be sure of receiving support through the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, programme, while those in urban centres will be assisted under the Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, category.

It is significant that NDDC has given more opportunities and hope to Niger Delta youths through the Holistic Opportunity Projects of Engagement, HOPE, meant to identify the interests of the youths for skills training.

The youth development and empowerment scheme, designed to create a comprehensive resources database of the youth population of the Niger Delta region, is meant to provide a platform to empower youths of the region on sustainable basis.

Project HOPE marks a turning point in our youth development and empowerment because it is all-inclusive and designed for sustainability. Things can only be sustainable when they are data-driven. The project would create a database for youths, women, and entrepreneurs. This would enable development agencies to see clearly what the youths want.

The new initiative, which is coming after many years of unplanned and mismanaged projects execution in the region, will focus on the needs of the youths, their qualifications, skills, passion, interests, and employment status.

So far, over one million youths have registered in the Project HOPE database and many more are still registering with the encouragement of various youth organisations. The database will serve as a plank for data-driven planning, enabling the formulation of impactful policies and programmes targeted at the youths.

No doubt, the NDDC will use the Project Hope to change the negative perception that the region’s youth are inclined toward militancy, when in fact, stakeholders in the region are now talking about intellectual militancy.

The Niger Delta stakeholders believe that we are at the dawn of a new tech programme, known as Mili-tech, which will signify a transition from militancy to technology. As if to prepare grounds for this transition, the NDDC has entered into partnership with the Rivers State Government to use its Information Technology Centre in Port Harcourt as one of its technology hubs in the region.

Apart from technology, the Project HOPE aims to cover other key areas, such as agriculture, music and arts, entrepreneurial development, marine and internship.

The good thing is that in designing its youth development programmes the NDDC relies on stakeholder engagements to interact with the relevant groups, because it realises that in planning for programmes one must involve those concerned at the foundational level.

Skills acquisition and human capital development are some of the key areas the Federal Government is paying special attention to in order to engage the youths and help to improve the lives of people in the Niger-delta region by helping them develop sustainable entrepreneurial skills.

Entrepreneurial, vocational and leadership value enhancement is the key to unlock the potentials and possibilities available to the youths in the Niger Delta region and this justifies the importance which the NDDC attaches to industrial development and human capacity building.

A 5km natural gas pipeline network has debuted in Victoria Island, connecting Eko Atlantic City, Lagos, courtesy of Axxela Limited and NGML.

This milestone marks a significant achievement in Axxela and NGML’s ongoing 72.5km pipeline infrastructure project, which will span from Victoria Island to the Lekki metropolis. The newly commissioned 5km pipeline network traversing from Outer Marina to Kuramo Beach is the first phase of the project and is expected to connect customers from Five Cowrie River by Army Officers’ Mess in Bonny Camp, all the way to the proposed Lekki International Airport.

According to Kehinde Alabi, Axxela’s Chief Operating Officer, “The commissioning of the first phase of this ambitious 72.5km pipeline network underscores our commitment to expanding natural gas infrastructure within the Greater Lagos Area. By connecting Eko Atlantic City to first gas, as a pioneer customer on this axis, we are paving the way for more access to the natural gas advantage; providing reliable energy solutions that can aid economic development. For us at Axxela, we are not only fueling businesses, but we are enabling the development of self-sustaining clusters, whilst strengthening Nigeria’s socio-economic growth”.

Also speaking, Justin Ezeala, Managing Director, NNPC Gas Marketing Limited (NGML), “Over the past two decades, NGML and Axxela have been renowned for their pioneering efforts and immense contribution to natural gas advocacy, this expansion project is a further reaffirmation of our partnership and dedication to natural gas infrastructure development across Nigeria and Africa. We are optimistic that advancing the natural gas pipeline network to the highly commercial Victoria Island and the rapidly developing Lekki area is a step in the right direction”.

Managing Director of Eko Atlantic City, David Frame, highlighted the significance of being the first customer to be connected and benefit from the project. “This development not only ensures a more efficient, stable, affordable and reliable supply of energy for our power generation needs but also sets a good benchmark for modern urban living. Beyond the immense socio-economic benefit, the sustainable nature of natural gas aligns with our vision of creating a future-ready city that prioritises energy efficiency and environmental sustainability”.

“The collaboration between Axxela, NGML and Eko Atlantic City will help the urban coastal city meet its energy needs efficiently and reliably. Eko Atlantic city is currently developing a 60MW capacity gas powered plant infrastructure which is expected to be commissioned in the coming years. As this futuristic city expands, its power requirements are substantial and critical for both residential and commercial activities. Axxela, a market leader in natural gas processing, distribution and power development, brings extensive experience of delivering piped gas to about 200 industrial and commercial customers via a vast natural gas infrastructure network.”

Eko Atlantic City, also known as Nigeria’s International Commercial Centre, is an innovative coastal city located in the heart of Victoria Island. With its grand infrastructural design that houses world class, large scale financial, residential and commercial developments, the city has become an undeniable hub of economic opportunities. This new city development embodies self-sufficiency and sustainability with cutting-edge urban planning, power generation, advanced engineering and technology.

Upon completion, the project will deepen domestic gas utilisation as companies, and businesses along the Victoria Island-Lekki corridor will have access to pipeline network infrastructure and natural gas will be readily available for utilisation across various market segments including cooling, feedstock for industries and decentralised power solutions amongst others.

…Calls for his Removal a Sign of Detractors Desperation

Following the ongoing #EndHungerandBadGovernance protest in Nigeria which started on August 1, the home of Chief Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike former governor of Rivers State and current Minister of FCT was targeted by hoodlums acting the script of their political masterminds under the guise of protest to raze down the edifice in similar fashion as being recorded in Northern Nigeria.

However, the presence of the security services did much to avert the planned carnage aimed at shaming the FCT Minister while scoring cheap political points.

For the avoidance of doubt, Wike is neither the incumbent governor of Rivers State nor a sitting member of the national assembly as he served his two terms of 4 years each successfully without any group or groups calling for his head and became the first Rivers governor to hand over to a successor seamlessly. It is not rocket science that such was his fate but the evidence abound.

Wike’s emergence as FCT Minister in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s led APC government where he is making mark in governance and leadership today is nothing short of reward for good public service delivery courtesy of the numerous projects he started and completed during his time as governor which gave him the title Mr. Project .

It is quite ridiculously appalling , that rather than gather as protesters to ask your elected representatives in government what they are doing with the people’s commonwealth especially at a time when allocations accruing to States from the Federal Account and Allocation Committee (FAAC) has seen increase in threefold, calculated attempt is made to disparage the efforts and services of a man who has paid his dues and is off on national assignment. This leaves us with the question- who is the face behind the protest in Rivers State? Your guess is as good as mine.

You will recall that under the watch of E. N Wike every local government experienced infrastructural development even though his blueprint was to restore the glory of Port Harcourt as the Garden City, an agenda to vanquished hunger as youths were engaged on the project. The peace recorded during his time in the exalted office wooed foreign investors to the State and that increased the IGR of the State which stabilized the activities of government without going cap in hand to beg the federal government for support of any kind being an opposition state .

Since the protest as claimed by the protesters is about bad governance, shouldn’t they focus their energies on questioning the management of public funds by incumbent governors if the people are experiencing bad governance today or are they not aware that these governors since the removal of fuel subsidy are now receiving more than 59% increase in allocations to their various States which is meant to cushion the effects of the economic policies of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government?

In the FCT where Wike is the Minister, he has rolled back insecurity which was previously rampaging the Capital City before his emergence. Youths in the FCT today are enjoying different kinds of empowerment programs which is still running. He has completed abandoned projects, started new ones, and is taking projects beyond the Abuja metropolis into the Area Councils thereby enforcing and enhancing pro-people developments.

Today, people can see very vividly and testify to the value Wike has brought to the FCT. In fact, existing records shows that Wike has already accomplished and achieved in 1 year what no previous FCT Minister did in their entire period in office.

These achievements by Wike has already decimated the ploy of his detractors and reduced their abrasive steps towards replacing him as the FCT Minister to a mere wishful thinking that is dead on arrival .

In Rivers State he was MR Project, in the FCT today he is called “the StayBoy”. Wike has greatly impacted the FCT through various projects as he continues to uphold the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, thus daily renewing the hopes of the people. Wike will remain FCT Minister and Nigeria will be great again.

Let’s hold our State governors and other elected representatives accountable for our woes. They are all jointly responsible for the failure leading to the hardship we all experience as Nigerians in Nigeria today. Only when we demand accountability from the right persons shall we get it right.

Hon. Sam Atasia Oburu
National Chairman Renewed Hope Agenda ; The Way Forward RHATWF