NDDC To Establish Dev Bank

The new board of the in terventionist agency, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC),  may have concluded plans to establish a Niger Delta Development Bank.
The Managing Director of NDDC, Mr. Nsima Ekere, who disclosed the plan at a meeting with ex-militant leaders and youths of the nine NDDC states in Port Harcourt said the bank would provide accessible soft loans to youths of the region.
Ekere explained that the planned bank would grant soft loans to those who had undergone various trainings in order to help them grow their businesses.
He regretted that about 90 per cent of youths of the region that acquired various skills after their training remained unemployed because they lacked adequate funds to start their own businesses, stressing that the Niger Delta Development Bank will change the situation for better.
The NDDC boss, however, appealed to the youths to shun crime as to create peaceful environment that can attract investors to the region, noting that if investors come to the region, it would deepen development, create wealth and employment opportunities for others who would need such to grow.
“Investors believe the Niger Delta region is not safe.  We must create a conducive environment for investors to come back to the region because no investor will bring his money to an unsafe place”, Ekere said.
The Managing Director who stressed the need for youths of the Niger Delta region to key into the Federal Government plan to embrace modular refineries and shun illegal refineries, stated that modular refineries would check the environmental degradation in the region, occasioned by activities of illegal refineries.
Youths who participated in the interactive forum expressed satisfaction with the management of the commission, saying such fora provides them the opportunity to understand the plans of the agency better and also make their own inputs.

Chris Oluoh