By Akanimo Sampson
All strata of stakeholders in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s main oil and gas region are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari and the supervising Minister of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Godswill Akpabio, to direct the interventionist agency to suspend any alleged Presidential Directive against the training and empowerment of youths in the region.
They also want Buhari and Akpabio to urgently embark on human capital development in the area in a frantic bid to reduce the people’s sufferings, unemployment and youths involvement in criminality across the region.
A Bloomberg publication late last March states that “Africa’s biggest economy is also one of its sickest. Nigeria, home to the world’s largest number of extremely poor people, looks set to break another record: the highest jobless rate. A third of the labor force is without employment or working only a few hours a week — second only to Namibia in the list of 82 countries tracked by Bloomberg.”
The global coronavirus pandemic and lockdown further placed millions of people across the region in poverty.
The people need government assistance, therefore embarking on youths entrepreneurship empowerment initiatives like small-scale retailing, crop and animal farming, artisanship, information and communication technology, and other technological training will significantly engage youths for productive developmental activities which can translate to poverty reduction and pro-growth.
It can also propel youths to attach themselves firmly to positive social institutions which would in turn lead to the development of positive identity, employment opportunities, self-efficacy, and social bond.
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The stakeholders and traditional rulers represented by Onyema Omenuwa, a lawyer, commended President Buhari and Akpabio on the recent commissioning of NDDC’s Headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
However, they are frowning at previous administrations for abandoning the project for 25 years after the groundbreaking ceremony. The land was acquired by the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in 1996 and was abandoned after series of design amendments.
NDDC, which is a federal government agency established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000 with the sole mandate of developing the oil region should be repositioned for success.
‘’We are witnesses to the fact that for 20 years of NDDC existence, and with trillions of naira spent by previous administrations, the pace of development in the region has been disappointing’’, they said.
Rather than having a comprehensive approach towards the development of the region, previous administrations have mostly focused on roads projects worth hundreds of billions of naira,constructed by local companies which are easily washed away during the rainy seasons.
There are too many substandard jobs done by indigenous contractors. With this pace, the region can never become the Dubai of Africa as many people in the region aspire. In our opinion, all major construction contracts should be given to multi-national companies that have a good track record and proven capacity of delivering world-class projects.”
As stakeholders in the events leading to the establishment of the NDDC, know the pains, bloodshed, sacrifices and tortious journey which led to the peace resolutions that brought about the establishment of the various intervention agencies particularly NDDC”.
Youths unemployment is a major development challenge with implications for conflict in the Niger Delta. The oil producing states of the Niger Delta region have some of the highest levels of youths unemployment in Nigeria (e.g. about 38.4% in Bayelsa and 27.9% in Rivers) compared to the national average of 21.1%. Like other parts of the world, youths unemployment in the Niger Delta is driven by demographic, educational and economic factors.
Two-thirds of the population of the Niger Delta is below the age of 30. With pervasive poverty and unemployment in the region, many youths are susceptible to being recruited into militant groups and criminal activities such as armed robbery, oil bunkering, prostitution and hostage taking for ransom.
The persistent tension in the region further encouraged more youths to prefer quick gains from crime and conflict over longer term and frequently unavailable returns to investments in education and training. Youth restiveness and persistent conflict in the Niger Delta hurt both the national economy and the local people.
Omenuwa states that the global coronavirus pandemic and lockdown further placed millions of people across the region in poverty. The people need government assistance and they urged President Buhari to direct Akpabio to ensure that NDDC urgently embarks on human capital development in order to reduce the people’s sufferings, unemployment and youths involvement in Criminality.
Youths empowerment initiatives like small-scale retailing, crop and animal farming, artisanship, information and communication technology, and other technological training will significantly engage youths for productive developmental activities which can translate to poverty reduction and pro-growth. It can also propel youths to attach themselves firmly to positive social institutions which would in turn lead to the development of positive identity, employment opportunities, self-efficacy, and social bond.
