LAGOS – The Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit, slated for July 10-13, 2024, at the Dr. Obi Wali International Conference Centre, Port Harcourt, is highly expected to keep off today, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, and would be brought to an end on July 13, 2024, and it is expected to help build synergy for the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.
It is designed to foster collaboration and establish a renewed path towards sustainable development in the region. The summit, with the theme: “Renewed Hope for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta Region,” will bring together key stakeholders, including government officials, community leaders, industry experts, and civil society organisations.
This historic summit, being hosted by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), will serve as a platform for dialogue and constructive engagement on pressing issues that impact the region, such as environmental sustainability, economic diversification, infrastructure development and social empowerment. Participants will have the opportunity to share their perspectives, exchange ideas, and explore solutions to address the varied challenges facing the Niger Delta region.
The Stakeholders Summit represents a significant stride towards realising the region’s full potential and securing a prosperous future for its inhabitants. It is a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to unite and collaborate towards the shared goal of sustainable development.
The Chairman of the Summit Planning Committee and NDDC Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Alabo Boma Iyaye, is confident that the Summit will help to unlock the immense potentials of the Niger Delta region.
He declared: “This summit is a testament to our collective commitment to the sustainable development of the Niger Delta.”
For the NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, the importance of stakeholders’ engagement and collaboration cannot be overemphasised.
He posits: “The Niger Delta is a region of immense resources and opportunities. By fostering partnerships and leveraging our collective strengths, we can overcome the challenges we face and build a more resilient and prosperous region.”
According to the Managing Director, stakeholders’ engagement is one of the cardinal points in the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. “The importance of stakeholders’ engagement is to ensure that projects and activities of government are well understood by the people to create room for synergy.
“We cannot be talking about the Renewed Hope Agenda and the plans for Niger Deltans, without giving the people opportunities for conversations on issues relating to the plans. The people must participate in the process leading to formulation of implementation plans.
“Renewed hope means touching the lives of people. This government is out to touch peoples’ lives. Bringing the people under one roof in the Niger Delta is to let them know what the renewed hope for sustainable development is all about and how beneficial it is for the region.
“The whole idea is to ensure that the people of the region key into the renewed hope for sustainable development, support the programmes and activities of the government for the benefit of the Niger Delta region.”
A renowned economist and the Chairman of the Niger Delta Chambers of Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture, NDCCITMA, Ambassador Idaere Gogo Ogan, says that it has become imperative to have a strategic conversation on the roadmap for the Niger Delta region.
In his view: “The Niger Delta region, by way of economic size, combines to about 51 trillion naira today. If you put it on a comparative level, we are actually bigger than Africa’s seventh largest economy, Lagos, by almost 10 trillion naira. It gives you the picture and the reason a conversation must take place.
“Having this sort of conversation will help us to build a roadmap for economic development by highlighting the priority areas where government is meant to invest for the socio-economic transformation of the Niger Delta region.
“We need to discuss youth unemployment and ways to scale up our natural endowments and resources. How do we monetize our gas reserves? How do we transit from gas to power? Industrialization of Nigeria can actually take place in the Niger Delta because we have the gas, which we can convert to power.”
Discussions must take place, Ogan insists: “Development does not come from only one man’s ideas. It has to go through series of plans and strategies. Of course, no matter the best plan you have, if you do not have a well thought out execution plan, progress will be difficult.
“Development should not be haphazard or subject to the interest of one man. It should be comprehensive and holistic with a strategic outlook. Any policy that is not evidence-based cannot deliver the development needs of our people.”
The Niger Delta Stakeholders’ Summit will feature high-level keynote addresses from prominent leaders and experts across various fields, technical sessions, interactive panel discussions on key thematic areas and networking opportunities for stakeholders to forge partnerships. The highbrow event is expected to come up with policy recommendations that will serve as a compass for the development of the Niger Delta region.
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