The Minister of Regional Development, Mr. Abubakar E. Momoh, On Friday, attributed the relative peace in the Niger Delta region to the meaningful engagements of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
 
Momoh, who came alongside the Minister of State, Alhaji Uba M. Ahmadu, to account for the achievements of the sector since they assumed office, identified peace in the region as the major achievements of the ministry.
 
According to him, about 300 youths were trained and empowered last year while about 1,000 youths who have been marked to be trained across nine states of the Niger Delta region this year will receive the sum of N250,000 each to embark on their chosen businesses.
 
“There is relative peace today in the Niger Delta because of the way and manner we have engaged them, engaged the stakeholders and also carried out empowerment programmes.
 
“In the area of community development and education, we have equally empowered a number of projects and free medical treatments. It is a major activity that we have embarked on and all these are geared towards maintaining peace in the region.  
  
“Turbulence in the region will negatively affect the economy of the nation. So, since we came on board, our major commitment is to ensure that we do all those things that will bring peace in the region,” he said.
 
Beyond peace in the area, the minister said the ministry has carried out a series of infrastructural development, including road construction, water supply, rural electrification, inland waterways development, housing and urban development.
 
“At the inception of this administration in 2023, we inherited some infrastructural development projects which include roads, water supply, rural electrification/solar streetlight as well as inland waterway transportation facilities, which were ongoing at various levels of completion. Considering the huge impact infrastructure plays in enhancing livelihood and socio-economic well-being of the people, we focused our policies on ensuring the completion of such projects through prioritisation in order to achieve the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of Mr. President in the Niger Delta Region,” he noted. He added that in the area of agriculture, the ministry has distributed critical equipment to farmers to  enhance their productivity.
 
“We have also invested in agro-processing infrastructure with the establishment of two mini agro-processing plants; an oil palm processing plant in Akwa Ibom State and a cassava processing plant in Cross River State valued at N171,186,892.38,” the minister said.
 
Momoh, however, said the ministry was grappling under poor funding as budgetary allocation has continued to dwindle rather than increase. Other challenges include delay in releasing of funds, which has resulted in untimely payment to contractors thereby making them to request for augmentation in the face of high inflation; high cost of implementing projects as a result of the Niger Delta terrain; heavy rain in the region, which hampers construction as well as the difficulty that came with transition from Ministry of Niger Delta Development to the Ministry of Regional Development with its expanded mandates.
 
Speaking earlier, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, emphasised that the briefing session, which began with his ministry last week, serves to showcase the achievements of the Tinubu administration across various sectors of the economy.
 
Noting that the Ministries of Livestock Development and Regional Development were the latest additions by President Tinubu to harness the vast potential of Nigeria’s livestock industry and to drive regional development across the six geo-political zones, he said both ministries have since hit the ground running.
 
While describing the media as invaluable partners in informing Nigerians, he called for accuracy and fairness in reportage.
 
“The media have remained invaluable partners in our stride to continue to update Nigerians on the laudable achievements of the Tinubu administration. I urge the media to ensure that these briefings are reported with the utmost sense of fairness and accuracy.
 
“There should be no recourse to sensationalism in the reporting of government policies and programmes. Criticisms and disagreements are welcome in the spirit of democratic practice but misinformation and disinformation should have no room whatsoever in public discourse,” he said.