PHOTOS show NDDC Interim Administrator (in coat) with students from some benefitting schools at the ceremony in Warri, Delta State …on Thursday
By Oluwayemi Davidson, Warri
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has reviewed modalities for benefiting from its Postgraduate Scholarship Scheme by youths from the Niger Delta region, to include approved universities in Nigeria as part of its human development initiative.
The review, according to the NDDC Interim Administrator, Mr. Efiong Akwa is part of the measures being taken by the Commission to cushion the effects of Covid-19 pandemic on youths from the various States of the region.
Disclosing this in Warri, Delta State on Thursday at the flag off of donation and distribution of essential science equipment to selected secondary schools in the Niger Delta region, the NDDC Interim Administrator urged young graduates from the nine States comprising the Niger Delta region to take advantage of the opportunity, when advertised.
According to him, the Commission’s development strategy “remains to help build the capacity of Niger Deltans and equip them to flourish in the predominant oil and gas sector of the regional economy”.
Benefiting schools at the flag off ceremony comprised Hussey College, Warri; Okotie-Eboh Grammar School, Sapele; Ogbe-Ijoh Secondary School. Ogbe-Ijoh as well as Notre Dame College, Ozoro, among others.
The NDDC Interim Administrator disclosed that the Commission is in the process of engaging the Nigerian Local Content Management Board (NLCMB) for the recruitment/placement of the NDDC Postgraduate scholars.
“We aim to offer them the opportunity to contribute their quota to the development of the region, in diverse fields”, he said.
Speaking further, he remarked saying “to successfully facilitate sustainable development, we must be determined to facilitate sustainable livelihoods. That is a key aspect of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.
The Interim Administrator told the gathering that the Commission has resolved to build educational infrastructure as a catalyst to offering a lasting solution to the socioeconomic difficulties of the region.
He opined that “at the end, we would have laid a more solid foundation to facilitating sustainable regional development, and building the Niger Delta of our collective aspirations and shared dreams”.
He also affirmed that NDDC’s interventionist efforts in the provision of educational infrastructure was borne out of the Commission’s belief that “scientific knowledge and technical expertise promote the wealth of nations”.
“This is in the way science allows the expansion of technology, which promotes economic development. In the Niger Delta, the main economic activities central to its development, such as oil, gas and agriculture, are energised and propelled by science and technology. They are the key that turns the ignition of sustainable development, which moves societies forward”, he remarked.
Ends
PHOTOS show NDDC Interim Administrator (in coat) with students from some benefitting schools at the ceremony in Warri, Delta State …on Thursday