Minister blames underdevelopment of N’Delta on implementation lapses, others

Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Omotayo Alasoadura, has blamed development challenges in the Niger Delta region on implementation lapses, wrong strategies, inadequate coordination and absence of effective collaboration.

He stated this yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while declaring open the Pre-council Seminar of the 14th National Council on the Niger Delta.

Lamenting that government’s lofty strategic intentions in the region have not been translated into meaningful development over the years, Alasoadura emphasised Federal Government’s intentions in adopting the best approach towards addressing the development challenges.

He noted that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the National Council on Niger Delta as a forum to seek the buy-in and participatory approach of stakeholders towards achieving the ministry’s mandate of managing, coordinating, promoting and initiating development policies and processes in the region.

He said the seminar would provide veritable inputs to infrastructure development, environmental management, human capital development, security, agriculture, as well as monitoring and evaluation.

Explaining that the ministry was created as a direct response to agitations of the Niger Delta people, he noted that the ministry was presently executing several intervention projects designed to improve the deplorable state of the region.

Alasoadura also disclosed that the interventions of the ministry had contributed to the Infrastructure development of the region, adding that successes have been recorded in areas of economic empowerment and skills acquisition programmes for youths and women.

He added that provisions have been made in the ministry’s 2021 budget estimate towards the completion of the East-West Road, which he said, was the ministry’s flagship project.

Also speaking, Permanent Secretary of Niger Delta Ministry, Dr. Baboyo Ardo, noted that the technical papers earmarked for discussion during the Pre-Council Session were carefully selected in line with its focal areas of intervention and the sub-themes meant to address identified challenges in the region.