President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent appointment of the NDDC’s new management board has received acclaim from a group.
The nine mandate states that make up the Niger Delta are to see rapid growth thanks to the NDDC, an interventionist organization established by a legislative act.
The National Assembly recently received a list of 16 candidates from President Buhari for the positions of chairman, managing director, executive director for projects and finance, among other board positions, for the NDDC.
In spite of various challenges, including legal obstacles, from certain concerned stakeholders who had problems with some of the candidates, the Senate subsequently examined and confirmed the nominees.
The nominees have subsequently been sworn in and are carrying out their duties following their vetting and confirmation. Lauretta Onochie, a former special assistant to President Buhari for new media, is the chair of the new board.
In a statement, the national president of the Southern Youths Development Forum Inc. praised Mr. Buhari for choosing Lauretta Onochie as the NDDC chairwoman.
After a stakeholders meeting with many leaders of Niger Delta youth organizations for the 2023 general elections, the statement was released on Thursday in Port Harcourt, Rivers States.
The forum in the statement appealed to the youths in the region not to allow themselves to be used against the region, especially during the elections.
“We want to say a big thank you to Mr President for listening to the voices of our people, we equally thank him for considering one of the Amazon of the region Ms Laureta Onochie as chairman of the NDDC.”
According to the forum, the chairperson is a true daughter of the South-south “who knows the terrain very well having worked in Cross River state for years as a teacher, and her experience in the United Kingdom and also working with Mr president will be brought to bear in the transformation of the region.
“This is one appointment that has given hope to us. We are very confident that she will perform creditably and the region will see great changes on infrastructure, security, human capacity, and women and youth development. In fact, a letter of appreciation will be sent to Mr President and Hon minister of Niger Delta Affairs,” the statement noted