Niger Delta: Stakeholders Raise The Alarm Over Heightening Tension Over NDDC Board

Stakeholders and ethnic youth leaders in the Niger Delta, have raised the alarm over brewing tension in the region over the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari, to inaugurate a substantive board for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The stakeholders and youth leaders disclosed this in Port Harcourt yesterday at emergency town hall meeting with the theme: “State of the Niger Delta Region: Appraisal and Call for Action”

Groups represented at the town hall meeting were the Rivers State Youth Leaders Assembly (RSYLA), the Niger Delta Youth Coalition for Peace and Progress (NDYCPP) and the Association for Non-Violence in the Niger Delta (ANVND)

Others were; the Rivers State Ethnic Youth Leaders Coalition (RSEYLC), Izon Peace Movement (IPM) the Ogoni Youth Federation (OYF), the Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND) and several other youth groups.

Speaking during the meeting, MOSIEND National President, Kennedy Tonjo West, said the tension is further heightened by the fact that the position of Sole Administrator was not a provision in the Act that established the NDDC.

West said: “You will agree with me that one of the palliatives of all our agitation was the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), whose core mandate is to train, educate and empower the youths of the oil-rich Niger Delta region to curb hostilities and militancy while developing key infrastructure to promote diversification and productivity.