The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has sought to partner the United Nation (UN), and its affiliate agencies in the area of technical support and provision of expert services in the development of the Niger Delta region.
The NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, asserted this when he led a delegation of the executive management of the commission to the regional office of the UN in Abuja.
In a statement issued by the Director, Public Affairs, Seledi Thompson-Wakama, Ogbuku expressed NDDC’s willingness to work with UN for the development of Niger Delta, stressing that the state governments within the region and the Commission could not achieve it alone.
Ogbuku explained that the NDDC needed to partner the UN because of its international reach as a world body with several affiliations.
The NDDC boss sought collaboration to provide portable and affordable drinking water powered by a high-tech solar generator as an energy source.
Having suffered environmental degradation due to oil exploration activities in the region, Ogbuku called for support from the UN to reforest the mangrove swamp in the area, which would protect the environment.
Re-emphasising the advantages of renewable energy, the NDDC boss highlighted the successes recorded in providing solar street lights across the region’s communities and appealed for support to bring solar-powered energy sources into individuals’ homes.
He said: “Apart from the solar street lights, we can also explore the possibility of providing Solar Mini grid as energy source in the various homes in the Niger Delta communities as this would also encourage commerce and trade in the localities.”
In health, education, youth training, gender development, and food security, Ogbuku called for greater UN involvement to enhance the social status and economic well-being of the region’s people through effective collaboration.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Country, Mohamed Malick Fall, expressed the UN’s willingness to collaborate and partner the NDDC to accelerate development in the region in his remarks.
He said, “We want to look at the Niger Delta in the context of accelerated development not to isolate the pollution of the environment.”
The envoy said the UN would accelerate development through its six transition partnership policies, including access to food security, job creation, education, and renewable energy.
Having listed the components with which the World body planned to engage with the NDDC, he said: “This could only serve as an entry point as the vision revolves around the SDGS, which can impact different aspects of the people’s lives in the region.”
He noted that the Niger Delta region deserved the attention of the UN having contributed to the economic development of the country and assured them that there would be more fruitful engagements with the commission.
SOURCE: THISDAY NEWSPAPER
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