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NDDC Launches Talent Hunt To Address Youth Unemployment
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has launched a novel Niger Delta Talent Hunt (NIDETH) to harness creativity among youths in the entertainment industry and address unemployment in the region.
The Interim Administrator, NDDC, Dr. Efiong Akwa, who spoke during the inauguration of the programme at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, said it was designed to tackle the challenges and lack of opportunities facing youths in the region.
Akwa commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, for supporting activities aimed at harnessing the creative potential of youths in the Niger Delta.
He said: “The entertainment industry is growing bigger everyday. The Nollywood industry occupies a major platform amongst other entertainment industries in the world. When you talk of entertainment, the next thing you hear is Nollywood industry in Nigeria. Niger Delta is blessed.
“Let me use this opportunity to tell the world that youths of the Niger Delta are the best you can find around the world. They are calm, confident; they seek to excel in whatever endeavour they find themselves.
“In the field of soccer, the youths of Rivers State and Akwa Ibom are taking the lead; wrestling, Delta and Edo are tops; swimming Bayelsa and Rivers are unbeatable.
“Our focus in this programme is to identify the talented youths, build them up and expose them to the world. We want to use this as an opportunity to provide a platform to expose the hidden talents in the region. If you build the youth, you build the nation.”
In his remarks, Akwa’s Special Adviser on Youths, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, described the Niger Delta youths as enterprising, observing that artistes from the region had challenges of getting support and platforms to express themselves.
He said: “The creative industry is one area that we can engage a lot of idle young people. We will continue to play our role in supporting institutions to create the platform to push our young people to the international community. We must keep the creative sector alive in the Niger Delta to develop young talents and to showcase them to the world.
“We expect that after this process, we will be able to identify unique talents that would be able to showcase to the world. If you look at the entertainment industry you have employment opportunities that are waiting for us.
“The Niger Delta youths need to be a part of these opportunities. We need to create engagements so that young people, who have a lot of energy can channel it towards talent development. The work of the NDDC is that of an interventionist agency. It is part of our job to create opportunities for young people to express themselves.
“The sky is our starting point. We expect that after this talent hunt which is geared towards entertainment, we will be looking at sports”.
Also speaking, the NDDC’s Director, Youths and Sports, Mr. Offiong Ephraim, said that NIDETH was a flagship programme of the NDDC Youths and Sports Directorate aimed at exposing the inherent talents in the Niger Delta region.
He said the talent hunt programme would kick off from the first phase which is Ondo, Edo and Delta states, and followed by the other phases with the grand finale taking place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, noting that it would cover the nine states of the Niger Delta region.
One of the leading artistes in the region and consultant for the programme, Mr. Okiri Harrison, also known as Harry Song, said that the new NDDC youth programme was a dream come true for those in the creative sector.
He said that 80per cent of the entertainment industry was rooted in the Niger Delta.
The musician said: “In the entertainment industry, cutting across music, comedy and theatre, the top talents are from the Niger Delta region. The main issue is that most talents remain unharnessed because there is no proper platform to identify and develop them. I am glad because this is where NIDETH comes in”.
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, has dissolved the State Executive Council.
The governor announced the cabinet dissolution yesterday in a statement titled ‘Government Special Announcement’, signed by his new Chief Press Secretary, Onwuka Nzeshi.
Governor Fubara directed all Commissioners and Special Advisers to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most Senior officers in their Ministries with immediate effect.
He thanked the outgoing members of the State Executive Council for their service and wished them the best in their future endeavours.
The three-paragraph special announcement read, “His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, Governor of Rivers State, has dissolved the State Executive Council.
“His Excellency, the Governor, has therefore directed all Commissioners and Special Advisers to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most Senior officers in their Ministries with immediate effect.
“His Excellency further expresses his deepest appreciation to the outgoing members of the Executive Council wishing them the best in their future endeavours.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday told the National Assembly that it requires N873.78bn to conduct the 2027 general elections, even as it seeks N171bn to fund its operations in the 2026 fiscal year.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, made the disclosure while presenting the commission’s 2026 budget proposal and the projected cost for the 2027 general elections before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters in Abuja.
According to Amupitan, the N873.78bn election budget covers the full conduct of national polls in 2027.
An additional N171bn is needed to support INEC’s routine activities in 2026, including bye-elections and off-season elections, the commission stated.
The INEC boss said the proposed election budget does not include a fresh request from the National Youth Service Corps seeking increased allowances for corps members engaged as ad-hoc staff during elections.
He explained that, although the details of specific line items were not exhaustively presented, the almost N1tn election budget is structured across five major components.
“N379.75bn is for operational costs, N92.32bn for administrative costs, N209.21bn for technological costs, N154.91bn for election capital costs and N42.61bn for miscellaneous expenses,” Amupitan said.
The INEC chief noted that the budget was prepared “in line with Section 3(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates the Commission to prepare its election budget at least one year before the general election.”
On the 2026 fiscal year, Amupitan disclosed that the Ministry of Finance provided an envelope of N140bn, stressing, however, that “INEC is proposing a total expenditure of N171bn.”
The breakdown includes N109bn for personnel costs, N18.7bn for overheads, N42.63bn for election-related activities and N1.4bn for capital expenditure.
He argued that the envelope budgeting system is not suitable for the Commission’s operations, noting that INEC’s activities often require urgent and flexible funding.
Amupitan also identified the lack of a dedicated communications network as a major operational challenge, adding that if the commission develops its own network infrastructure, Nigerians would be in a better position to hold it accountable for any technical glitches.
Speaking at the session, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) said external agencies should not dictate the budgeting framework for INEC, given the unique and sensitive nature of its mandate.
He advocated that the envelope budgeting model should be set aside.
He urged the National Assembly to work with INEC’s financial proposal to avoid future instances of possible underfunding.
In the same vein, a member of the House of Representatives from Edo State, Billy Osawaru, called for INEC’s budget to be placed on first-line charge as provided in the Constitution, with funds released in full and on time to enable the Commission to plan early enough for the 2027 general election.
The Joint Committee approved a motion recommending the one-time release of the Commission’s annual budget.
The committee also said it would consider the NYSC’s request for about N32bn to increase allowances for corps members to N125,000 each when engaged for election duties.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Simon Along, assured that the National Assembly would work closely with the Commission to ensure it receives the necessary support for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Similarly, the Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Bayo Balogun, also pledged legislative support, warning INEC to be careful about promises it might be unable to keep.
He recalled that during the 2023 general election, INEC made strong assurances about uploading results to the INEC Result Viewing portal, creating the impression that results could be monitored in real time.
“iREV was not even in the Electoral Act; it was only in INEC regulations. So, be careful how you make promises,” Balogun warned.
The N873.78bn proposed by INEC for next year’s general election is a significant increase from the N313.4bn released to the Commission by the Federal Government for the conduct of the 2023 general election.
President Bola Tinubu yesterday expressed grief over the death of a former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and one of Africa’s foremost literary scholars, Professor Emeritus Biodun Jeyifo.
Jeyifo passed away on Wednesday, drawing tributes from across Nigeria and the global academic community.
In a condolence message to the family, friends, and associates of the late scholar, Tinubu in a statement by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, described Jeyifo as a towering intellectual whose contributions to African literature, postcolonial studies, and cultural theory left an enduring legacy.
He noted that the late professor would be sorely missed for his incisive criticism and masterful interpretations of the works of Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.
The President also recalled Jeyifo’s leadership of ASUU, praising the temperance, foresight, and wisdom he brought to the union over the years.
Tinubu said Jeyifo played a key role in shaping negotiation frameworks with the government aimed at improving working conditions for university staff and enhancing the learning environment in Nigerian universities.
According to the President, Professor Jeyifo’s longstanding advocacy for academic freedom and social justice will continue to inspire generations.
He added that the late scholar’s influence extended beyond academia into political and cultural journalism, where he served as a mentor to numerous scholars, writers, and activists.
Tinubu condoled with ASUU, the Nigerian Academy of Letters, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, the University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Oberlin University, Cornell University, and Harvard University—institutions where Jeyifo studied, taught, or made significant scholarly contributions.
“Nigeria and the global academic community have lost a towering figure and outstanding global citizen,” the President said.
“Professor Biodun Jeyifo was an intellectual giant who dedicated his entire life to knowledge production and the promotion of human dignity. I share a strong personal relationship with him. His contributions to literary and cultural advancement and to society at large will be missed.”
Jeyifo was widely regarded as one of Africa’s most influential literary critics and public intellectuals. Among several honours, he received the prestigious W.E.B. Du Bois Medal in 2019.