By Godwin Chukwumaechi
Youth leaders in the Niger Delta, under the aegis of Niger Delta Opinion Leaders, Youths and Weighted Stakeholders, have passed a vote of confidence on President Bola Tinubu and the managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku and his team.
The youths leaders commended President Tinubu for appointing Ogbuku and members of his management team to oversee the activities of the commission at this critical point in the life of the Niger Delta region.
Speaking at a press conference in Port Harcourt they threw their weight behind Ogbuku, noting that he has the will and capacity to execute the much needed development in the region.
President, Ijaw Youths Council, Worldwide, Sir Jonathan Senior Lokpobiri, who was represented by his deputy, Freedom Atigbi, urged “naysayers of the NDDC MD to sheath their swords and align with Ogbuku in his efforts to bring genuine development to the region.”
He declared that Ogbuku remained the best bet to judiciously manage the funds of the commission in tackling the alarming poverty and developmental challenges in the region.
The IYC president said; “The NDDC as a developmental agency which stands as a buffer between the oil producing region of the Niger Delta and the Federal Government is often faced with how to judiciously allocate the patrimony of the oil wealth. To overcome this challenge, we need someone in the person of Dr. Samuel Ogbuku at the helm of affairs who knows how to tip the scales to achieve a balance.
“With all the reasoning put forth, we conclude that Dr. Samuel Ogbuku is the balancer and unifying power of our region. And because poverty and misery are not God given curses that man must passively accept but they are largely man made and can be remedied by man, it is only ideal that leadership should be the prerogative of the man who knows how to feel the pulse of his people, and Dr. Samuel Ogbuku fits perfectly for the NDDC, in this instance.
“He has our support and vote of confidence”, he declared, adding that the leaders were grateful to President Tinubu for appointing Ogbuku the managing director and chief executive officer of NDDC, insisting that the leadership of the current NDDC boss signifies a rebirth of the commission.
Lokpobiri added; “This is leadership at its best where dialogue and accountability is on display. This convinces us that what we are experiencing in the Dr. Samuel Ogbuku-led management is beyond any describable form of leadership. We see it as a movement. It is a movement for the rebirth of a functional NDDC that transits from transaction to transformation.
“It is an idea which has come to give a new dimension to leadership in the NDDC and our region, and for making such an appointment, we thank President Bola Tinubu for his visionary insight.”
