The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has stated that the formation of the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture (NDCCITMA) was borne out of the need to create jobs and develop existing small-scale businesses in the region.

Speaking during the NDCCITMA sensitisation workshop in Akure, Ondo State, Ogbuku, assured that the new chamber of commerce would assist in addressing the socio-economic and political challenges facing the people of the Niger Delta region.

The NDDC Chief Executive Officer, who was represented by the Ondo State representative on the NDDC board, Hon. Otitoju Atikase, said that the Commission would contribute N30 billion naira as its counterpart fund to ensure the success of the Chamber of Commerce.

He said: "When we came on board, the first thing we did was to evaluate what was on the ground and immediately came up with the idea of establishing the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture.

“As an interventionist agency, we believe that the NDCCITMA initiative will be able to stand in the gap between NDDC and the people in the area of job creation, trades and supporting the nano, small and medium-scale enterprises to grow."

In his remarks, the Secretary of the NDCCITMA board, Dr. Solomon Edebiri, explained that the initiative would not only be a rallying point for mentorship, it would also bring about positive development in the informal sector and support small business groups.

He declared: "This is the opportunity the business community have been waiting for.

This initiative will bring positive development, galvanising the informal sector and small business groups yearning for support, as NDCCITMA will be a rallying point, providing guidance and mentorship."

Edebiri noted that NDCCITMA would invigorate the system that would ensure that small business owners could access soft loans.