Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, has advocated economic growth and industrialisation of the Niger Delta region as a sustainable means of curbing youth restiveness and agitations.
Ogbuku made the call in Enugu on Tuesday while speaking on Water and Marine Security at the ongoing Annual General Conference (AGC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
He noted that Nigeria’s current oil production of 1.8 million barrels per day was largely due to inter-agency security collaborations in the Niger Delta.
According to him, engaging the youths through economic opportunities and industrial projects would sustain oil productivity and reduce agitations.
“With an improved economy and industrialisation, there will be jobs, and the restiveness of the youths will be curtailed,” Ogbuku said.
The NDDC boss stressed that security and development were inseparable, recalling how militancy once made communities unsafe before the establishment of the commission.
He noted that the situation had since improved, with no Niger Delta community currently under siege by militants.
“No community in the Niger Delta is a militant camp today because the area has been lighted up. We have created equality in the region,” he declared.
Ogbuku further expressed optimism that the Blue Economy would drive the region’s development.
He said the ongoing construction of the Coastal Road would open the Niger Delta to new opportunities, while peace in the region had already enabled the building of bridges and other projects linking communities.
He thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support and interest in the region, noting that this had facilitated the commission’s ability to execute and commission projects.
“The NDDC is commissioning projects everywhere because the President has interest in the Niger Delta,” he added.
Reflecting on the commission’s track record, Ogbuku stated that since its establishment in 2000, the NDDC had produced 10 managing directors, a sign of continuity and stability.
“The NDDC has done a lot for the communities in the Niger Delta between 2000 and 2025. The organisation is highly stabilised, and the present administration has ensured that its managers complete their tenure. We have no excuse not to succeed,” he said.
One of the panelists at the NBA event, Senator Dino Melaye, urged Ogbuku to change public perceptions about the NDDC by ensuring transparency and preventing politicians from cornering contracts meant for communities.
He noted that if past allocations had been judiciously utilised, youth restiveness would not have persisted.
