Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has launched the Niger Delta Talent Hunt (NIDETH) aimed at harnessing creativity among youths in the entertainment industry as well as addressing unemployment in the region.
While inaugurating the programme at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt yesterday, the commission’s interim administrator, Dr. Efiong Akwa said it was designed to tackle the challenges and lack of opportunities facing youths in the region.
Akwa commended president Muhammadu Buhari and the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana, for supporting activities aimed at harnessing the creative potential of youths in the Niger Delta.
He said: “The entertainment industry is growing bigger everyday. The Nollywood industry occupies a major platform amongst other entertainment industries in the world. When you talk of entertainment the next thing you hear is Nollywood industry in Nigeria. Niger Delta is blessed.
“Let me use this opportunity to tell the world that youths of the Niger Delta are the best you can find around the world. They are calm, confident, they seek to excel in whatever endeavour they find themselves.
“In the field of soccer, the youths of Rivers State and Akwa-Ibom are taking the lead; wrestling, Delta and Edo are tops; swimming Bayelsa and Rivers are unbeatable.
“Our focus in this programme is to identify the talented youths, build them up and expose them to the world. We want to use this as an opportunity to provide a platform to expose the hidden talents in the region. If you build the youth, you build the nation.”
Also, the special adviser on youths to the NDDC interim administrator, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, described the Niger Delta youths as enterprising, observing that artistes from the region had challenges of getting support and platforms to express themselves.
