THE Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) announced plans to increase the research capacity and capability of universities throughout the Niger Delta in order to find long-term solutions to the region’s unique health, environmental, and communal issues.
The Niger Delta region includes the states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers.
The Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, spoke during courtesy visits to the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, by delegations from Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education.
The commission also stated that it would review its youth development programs in order to ensure that Niger Delta youths become more productive in the face of modern challenges.
Concerned about the lack of long-term solutions to health, environmental, and community-based issues in the Niger Delta, the NDDC challenged universities in the region to conduct problem-solving research.
Prof. Nlerum Okogbule, Vice Chancellor of Rivers State University, requested that the commission assist the university in the construction and furnishing of an Advanced Centre for Law Research.
Speaking also, the Vice Chancellor of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Prof. Okechukwu Onuchukwu, called on the NDDC to intervene in university campus infrastructure.
Speaking however, the NDDC’s CEO, stated that the interventionist agency is ready to provide the necessary support to universities in the region in order to prioritize research that seeks to provide solutions to societal issues.
In a speech to the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Ogbuku stated that the agency would transform its Youth Volunteer Programme into a Youth Internship Programme as part of efforts to discourage sedentary lifestyles among Niger Delta youths.
