The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has announced plans to start a Post Amnesty Initiative, PAI, where industrial clusters would be established across the region to engage youths who graduate from the current Amnesty Programme of the Federal Government.

This is just as he commended the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for completing the N24 billion Ogbia-Nembe Road, built in partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

Akpabio, who addressed NDDC management and staff during a working visit to the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, said that the success story of the partnership should serve as a challenge to other International Oil Companies (IOCs).

Akpabio’s entourage, which included the Minister of State, Mr. Festus Keyamo and Directors of his ministry, also inspected on-going construction of the 13-floor permanent headquarters of the NDDC and a failed section of the East-West Road in Nkpolu area of Port Harcourt.

The NDDC Acting Managing Director, Dr. Akwagaga Lelegima Enyia and other Directors of the Commission took the ministers round during the inspections, where Akpabio directed that the Commission must move to its permanent headquarters by March next year.

“NDDC will no longer pay rent for its headquarters from next year,” he declared.

Akpabio noted that the programme would end someday and that the youths may be forced to fall back on the NDDC.

According to him: “All the nine Niger Delta states will have the industrial clusters that can absorb between 1,000 and 2,000 youths with different skills.

"We are going to provide for this in the 2020 budget of the NDDC. The Ministry and the Commission will collaborate to realise this goal.”

He stated that the mission of his Ministry and that of the NDDC were similar and that had made it necessary for them to work with one accord saying: “We are now united to ensure effective coordination of the development strides of this region. In fact, it is now rapid Two killed as gunmen storm Rivers communities (Vanguard)

Update news