The federal government has told people of the Niger Delta region to expect more intervention projects in 2022, declaring that it was passionately seeking better and faster ways of delivering dividends to the people of the region.
Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio stated this during the commissioning/handing over of the youth corps members’ lodge and viewing centre constructed by his ministry in Koroma Tai Community, Tai Local Government of Rivers State.
Akpabio, who was represented by a management staff in Housing and Urban Development Department of the ministry, Mr. Ephraim Brigid, urged the community to be dedicated to the protection and maintenance of the facilities in their area as government compliments the effort.
A statement issued by the Director, Press/PR in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Patricia Deworitshe, quoted the minister as describing the lodge/viewing centre as one of the gains and achievements recorded under the ‘change agenda’ of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He urged the Niger Delta region to expect more intervention projects as soon as the 2022 appropriation bill is passed.
The minister said: “This commissioning is only the beginning. The ministry is passionately seeking better and faster ways of delivering on its mandate. We have noted and learnt many lessons from the development of this project and will factor this into future projects.”
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babayo Ardo, in his welcome address stated that the facilities were among the many projects being developed by the ministry in each of the nine Niger Delta states.
Ardo stated that history had been recorded since it was the first youth corps members’ lodge to be commissioned by the ministry in Rivers State.
“It is therefore one of the concrete example of the commitment and legacy of this administration,” he said.
In his remarks, the Chairman, Tai Local Government Chairman, Hon. Friday Mbakpone,stated that corps members played important roles in the community, school and offices and commended the ministry for providing comfort to the youth.
He pledged the readiness of his office to collaborate with any organisation, public or private that wanted to provide some level of comfort for corps members.
In a related development, the Akpabio, while commissioning the Community Primary School, Tombia in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, stated that modern economy was knowledge-driven and the Niger Delta Region needed to be carried along.
He was referring to findings in UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report, which stated that poverty was directly connected to poor quality education and improvement in the quality of education could reduce poverty to as much as 30 per cent.
The minister, who was represented by the Director, Community Development and Education (CDE) Department, Sabo Adamu, stated that the ministry served as a primary vehicle to drive federal government’s intervention to fast-track socio-economic development in the Niger Delta region.
According to him, the ministry has made considerable progress in the area of infrastructure development, environmental remediation, human capital development and maintenance of peace and security for sustainable development.
