NDDC Promises Additional Support For Education, Sustainable Development

Dr Samuel Ogbuku, Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has assured that the Commission will continue to play a strategic role in education development to ensure the Niger Delta region’s long-term development.

According to Seledi Thompson-Wakama, Director of Corporate Affairs, Ogbuku stated this in a keynote address at the 2024 Moot and Mock Trial Competition for Law Faculties in Niger Delta Universities, which was held at the Nigerian Law School’s Dr. Nabo Graham Douglas Port Harcourt campus.
He stated, “The NDDC has intervened in various areas of our educational development, such as scholarship schemes, hostel construction, electricity provision, and many other infrastructure projects in educational institutions throughout the region.”
“Since taking office at the NDDC, we have prioritised educational development and human capacity building as key policy objectives. The NDDC’s previous negative narrative is changing as a result of conscious and sustained efforts to chart a new course for regional development.
Ogbuku went on to say, “After our Rewind to Rebirth initiative, we decided to transition from Transaction to Transformation, which entails making a real difference in the lives of our people, as part of our contribution to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“We have reactivated and strengthened our foreign postgraduate scholarship scheme, making it more merit-based and adequately funding it to avoid the problems of the past. We also reactivated and strengthened our free medical outreach program, which provides high-quality healthcare to our grassroots communities.”
Ogbuku stated that the region aided the development of Nigerian jurisprudence and made significant contributions to the advancement of the legal profession.
“Indeed, the region has produced some of Nigeria’s finest legal philosophers, including the late Justice Udo Udoma, Late Justice Chukwudifo Oputa, Hon. Justice Ndoma-Egba, Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey, Justice Niki Tobi, Justice Nabo Graham Douglas, and Justice Walter Onoghen.
He announced that the NDDC would sponsor an outstanding law faculty member for a one-month internship at the O.C.J Okocha law firm in Port Harcourt.
Also speaking, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, Chairman of the NDDC Governing Board, stated that the Commission would institutionalise the Moot and Mock competition to ensure its continued existence.
He stated that the Commission would continue to play its statutory role in developing and supporting other efforts to advance education, as well as promoting the development of legal education through practical trainings to build capacity.
Ebie maintained that strengthening law and order was critical to the region’s development because it ensured that all stakeholders contributing to regional development followed the law’s limits and expectations.
The NDDC Chairman promised that the Commission would cover the one-year subscription to the Nigerian Weekly Law Reports for all law faculties competing in the Moot and Mock competition.
Earlier, the Special Guest of Honour, Chief O.C.J. Okocha, praised the NDDC for sponsoring the Moot and Mock Trial competition for law students, stating that it was an important part of legal education.
Okocha, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, stated that human capacity building is a critical factor in the development of any region, and that it is essential for the development of critical thinking in all professions.
The legal luminary observed that the recent formation of the South-East Development Commission and the North-West Development Commission raised some fundamental concerns, given the political considerations that influenced the decision.
He added: “I hope that the establishment of these commissions does not diminish the importance of the NDDC as a vehicle for the rapid development of the Niger Delta region. These new commissions should not be used to undermine the NDDC’s effectiveness or usefulness.
“The Niger Delta remains a unique region that requires special attention from the central government as the goose that lays the golden eggs for the country.”
Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr Stephen Ighomuaye, NDDC Director of Legal Services, stated that the intellectual engagement of the region’s youths was a strategic mechanism that should be consciously developed in order to find creative solutions to the region’s challenges.
He stated: “At the NDDC, we firmly believe that engaging the region’s youth intellectually is a critical strategy that should be actively nurtured and cultivated to address the region’s unique challenges, rather than resorting to violence.”