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NDDC Seeks Private Sector Support To Boost Infrastructure Dev

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8 years ago

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The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Nsima Ekere says the commission has embraced the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) option to galvanise the infrastructure delivery drive in the Niger Delta region.
The NDDC chief executive officer stated this during a courtesy visit by a delegation from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.
Ekere, who was represented by the NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Engr Samuel Adjogbe, remarked that the NDDC was urgently seeking ways to stimulate industrial growth in the Niger Delta region, noting that it was adopting the PPP option in the execution of a Niger Delta Regional Power Pool Project.
He remarked that the power project was one of the critical areas where private sector participation was required to encourage investors to set up industries in the Niger Delta, lamenting that the high cost of power in the region was increasing the operational cost of industries and thus serving as a disincentive.
According to the NDDC boss, there was need to make a deliberate effort to set up projects that can boost power and attract investors to the region.
He said: “We have identified industrial parks in different parts of the region and we intend to support them with the power project.”
Ekere said that the NDDC was partnering with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN and the Nigerian Export Import Bank, NEXIM, to help provide employment for the youths.
He added that the commission was working towards establishing of Nigeria’s first and grandest enterprise innovation and growth hub in the Niger Delta.
“We are also working on setting up the Niger Delta Development Bank to ensure sustainable development beyond oil,” the MD said.
He declared: “We are determined to create more jobs to fight unemployment. We want to fight poverty, we want to fight restiveness and this is one way we can use to ensure that militancy is eradicated in the Niger Delta.
“We need an attitudinal change in the Niger Delta. We have agitated long enough. We now need to harness our energies for development efforts.”
He said that internet penetration in the Niger Delta was another area of focus for the commission, in its efforts to link the entire region with fibre optics. He stated that the leadership of the crecently visited São Tomé and Principe to discuss with the country’s prime minister on the possibility of benefiting from their own excess internet capacity.
In his address, the Acting Director-General of ICRC, Engr. Chidi Izuwah Snr, said that the delegation was in the Niger Delta region on a monitoring visit to Federal PPP/Concession projects in Port Harcourt and Onne areas.
He said that infrastructural development was important, considering the magnitude of government expenditures in recent years and the level of infrastructure deficit in Nigeria.
“Infrastructure and its related services are critical to the operation and efficiency of a modern economy,” he remarked.
Given the huge amounts needed and the drive necessary for development, Izuwah said that the Nigerian government lacked the resources to drive development on its own and had thus among other options embarked upon the use of Public Private Partnerships, PPPs.
Consequently, he affirmed that the huge and extensive responsibility of the NDDC in fast-tracking the development and growth of the Niger Delta region, should be implemented using the PPP option.
Towards this end, he proposed a summit on revolutionizing infrastructure delivery in the Niger Delta region through PPP which would be convened by NDDC in collaboration with the ICRC to showcase and highlight to investors, financiers and development actors the critical infrastructure value chain opportunities in the region.

 

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana

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Boat Mishap Kills Pastor, Wife And Church Members  In Brass Water

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5 days ago

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May 18, 2026

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A boat accident in Bayelsa state has killed a serving Pastor, Wife and other church members along Brass waterways
The sad incident happened at Odioama in Brass local government area of Bayelsa State when the Pastor, wife and  members of his church were in a programme.
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?Tide confirmed that the lifeless body of the Pastor’s wife has been found and deposited in a mortuary while the remains of her husband ,the Pastor is yet  to be recovered
as search party are still ongoing.
Although the real cause of the boat Mishap is not yet known as at the time of this report,  our Correspondent gathered  that the identities of the Pastor, wife and church members were not disclosed to the public.
The mishap, Tide gathered occurred on Friday morning when the church members were on a boat transit
The Bayelsa State government and the state police command are yet to issue official statement’s  on the sad accident
By: CHINEDU WOSU
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Rivers Workers Seek Scrapping Of Contributory Pension Scheme

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5 days ago

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May 18, 2026

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The Rivers State Council of  Nigeria Civil Service Union has called on the State Government to urgently scrap the contributory pension scheme, describing it as unfavourable to long-serving civil servants in the state.
Chairman of the union, Chukwuka Osuma, said this in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt,  recently.
Osuma said the current pension structure has continued to worsen post-retirement hardship for workers.
He noted that  the contributory pension scheme had failed to provide adequate retirement security for workers who had spent many years in service, especially those approaching retirement age.
According to him, civil servants who had served for more than 20 years were among the worst affected under the scheme, insisting that many retirees could no longer cope with prevailing economic realities.
He also  informed that the Union has made moves to showcase their concerns, pleading with Governor Siminalayi Fubara to abolish the pension policy and introduce a more favourable arrangement for affected workers.
“The union was not opposed to pension reforms, the contributory scheme should only apply to newly employed workers or those with fewer years in service”, he said.
Osuma explained that workers who had already spent decades in the civil service ought to remain under a more secure pension structure capable of guaranteeing stability after retirement.
The labour leader further noted that inflation and the rising cost of living had continued to erode the value of retirement savings, thereby increasing the suffering of pensioners across the country.
He also appealed to the state government to consider extending the years of service in the civil service from 35 to 40 years and the retirement age from 60 to 65 years.
Osuma argued that such adjustment had become necessary in view of present-day economic realities and changing conditions in the workplace.
The unionist also reviewed that similar policies had already been adopted in some sectors and jurisdictions, expressing optimism that the State could also implement the reforms for the benefit of workers.
He however, commended Governor Fubara for approving an N85,000 minimum wage for workers in the state, noting that the amount was above the national benchmark of N70,000.
Osuma also acknowledged the government’s efforts in the area of workers’ promotions and bonuses, but insisted that pension reforms and extension of years of service remained critical to the long-term welfare and stability of civil servants in Rivers State.
By: King Onunwor
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FG Begins South-West Tour To Promote New Cooperative Bank

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1 week ago

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May 13, 2026

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The Federal Government has launched the South-West zonal engagement and ministerial advocacy tour on the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria share capital mobilisation, sensitisation and cooperative sector digitalisation.
 Reports say the initiative was launched through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
According to reports, the advocacy tour, organised by the ministry’s Federal Department of Cooperatives, began on Monday in Lagos.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, said the initiative was part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Abdullahi described the exercise as a strategic effort to reposition the cooperative sector as a key driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity.
“Today represents a defining moment in our collective determination to reposition the cooperative sector as a major driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity,” he said.
The minister noted  the modern cooperative movement in Nigeria originated in the South-West following the 1934 Strickland Report, which led to the enactment of the Cooperative Societies Ordinance of 1935.
According to him, the decision to commence the sensitisation and share capital mobilisation tour in the region is symbolic, as it marks a return to the roots of cooperative development in the country.
Abdullahi said the advocacy tour was a direct outcome of resolutions reached at the 8th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Cooperative Affairs held in Abuja in March 2026.
He said the council approved the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme, a comprehensive framework designed to strengthen the cooperative sector and align it with the administration’s goal of building a one-trillion-dollar economy.
“The reform programme focuses on seven strategic pillars, including governance reforms, cooperative financing and the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria, digitalisation, capacity building, value chain development, inclusion of youths, women and persons with disabilities, and strategic partnerships,” he said.
He said the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria and the digitalisation of the cooperative sector were the two major transformational initiatives under the programme.
“The Cooperative Bank of Nigeria is aimed at rebuilding a strong cooperative financial system capable of supporting cooperators, farmers, artisans, traders, SMEs, youths, women and persons with disabilities with accessible and affordable financial services,” he said.
Abdullahi emphasised that the proposed bank would be government-enabled but not government-funded.
“Government is not establishing the bank as an owner, nor will it rely on Treasury Single Account funds.
“The role of government through the FMAFS is to provide policy support, stakeholder coordination, regulatory facilitation and an enabling environment under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme,” he said.
Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to cooperative sector transformation.
She described cooperatives as critical tools for promoting inclusive growth, grassroots productivity, food security, financial inclusion and community wealth creation.
Ambrose-Medebem said Lagos State would continue to support reforms and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (2025–2030).
“Together, let us build a cooperative ecosystem that is modern, transparent, digitally enabled, financially inclusive and globally competitive.
“Let us build cooperatives that not only mobilise savings, but also mobilise prosperity,” she said.
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