Senate President Godswill Akpabio has launched a youth internship scheme initiated by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for 10,000 youths in the Niger Delta region.

Akpabio, who spoke during the NDDC Executive Management Engagement with Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities and Selected Stakeholders in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, said the proposed nationwide protests by some youths would not take place in the nine states of the Niger Delta, describing the region as a protest-free zone.

Giving details of the internship scheme, the Senate President, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, said the 10,000 youths would be engaged in the programme designed to improve their skills, noting that the beneficiaries in the first phase would be paid N50,000 monthly.

Akpabio stated that President Bola Tinubu was committed to the development of the Niger Delta region.

He noted that following a presidential directive, the NDDC recently inaugurated five flagship projects covering roads, bridges and electricity, across the region.

He commended the NDDC for restoring some damaged sections of the East-West Road and assured that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project would not only commence from Lagos but would also start simultaneously from the Niger Delta.

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Akpabio said despite the challenges of developing the Niger Delta region, the NDDC had executed several projects that had improved the lives of the people, promising that henceforth, the commission would be getting its full share of its statutory allocations.

In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the NDDC Governing Board, Chiedu Ebie, assured that the Commission would continue to focus on completing capital projects that would add value to the Niger Delta region.

Ebie thanked members of the National Assembly for passing the 2024 budget of the NDDC which he said would set the tone for the implementation of projects and programmes that would benefit the people of the Niger Delta region.

Also speaking, the NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, said the people of the Niger Delta region had since transited from militant agitation to intellectual struggle, noting that the region has since been reaping the benefits of the struggles.

The President of the Ijaw Youth Council, Jonathan Lopkobiri, stated that Niger Deltans had “no business with those who were inciting youths to anarchy”, adding that demands of the protesters said nothing about the long-neglected East-West Road.

He, therefore, commended the NDDC for providing a temporary reprieve for the users of the road, which he noted was still being threatened by flooding.

The Star