FG orders NDDC contractors back to site within 21 days
The Federal Government has directed all mobilised contractors of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), who have not completed their projects, to report back to the site within three weeks.
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, disclosed this yesterday when the Niger Delta Agitators Network (NDAN), Abuja Chapter, led by Safety Braye Samuel Numonde, paid a courtesy call on the ministry.
The Minister said the Federal Government cannot change the region unless it ensures that money meant for its development is spent judiciously.
He, therefore, charged the group to agitate for uncommon development and promised to work with them to create economic activities for export and local consumption.
Akpabio noted that the Ministry was planning to work with international partners to make the Niger Delta region a theater of development through the Post Amnesty Initiative (PAI).
He charged all ex-agitators to become “community watchmen” and ensure that their complaints were channeled through the appropriate quarters.
Akpabio said the Ministry was planning to train 18,000 youths in different vocational skills with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).
He also disclosed that the ministry was partnering with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Entrepreneurship Programmes and NDE to train at least 27,000 people in the region.
He further said he had directed the NDDC to move to their permanent site by next year, adding that the government was prepared to work with all stakeholders in the Niger Delta region to ensure that there are sustainable peace and development.
In his remark, the Minister of State, Senator Omotayo Alaosadura, described the group as one of the saviours of the Niger Delta region by bringing peace to the region.
He charged the group to work with the Federal Government for an all-inclusive development of the region.
Earlier, the leader of the group, Numonde, said they initiated the visit to see how they could partner with the ministry in community sensitisation.
According to Numonde, the group was prepared to work collectively with the government to actualise the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari’s for the region.
