By Godwin Chukwumaechi
Traditional rulers, youth and women leaders and hundreds of other indigenes of the Niger Delta region gathered in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on Friday to deliberate on how the region has fared in the two years of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The event with the theme: “Two Years of Stewardship: Tinubu’s Footprint in the Niger Delta, Legacy in Motion,” organised by the Niger Delta Progressive Alliance (NDPA), centred on celebration, reflection and renewed demands for inclusive development in the region.
In his address, convener of the NDPA, Victor Udoh, described the event as a turning point for the Niger Delta, emphasizing that the time for transformation in the region is now.
“This day dawns not merely as a page turned on the calendar, but as a clarion call echoing across the creeks, rivers, and coastlines of the Niger Delta. In the heart of Port Harcourt, the symbolic capital of the Niger Delta, we gather not only to witness, but to reckon and to dream anew. This theme ‘The Future Is Here’ is neither a rhetorical flourish nor political optimism. It is an intentional declaration that we stand at the edge of a long-awaited inflection point, heralding a movement. A movement that proclaims, with hope and conviction, that the future is no longer a distant promise. It is here, now, and unfolding before our eyes.
Udoh commended President Tinubu for redirecting national attention toward peacebuilding and intellectual empowerment in the region, citing the progress in education, infrastructure, and environmental recovery. He also called for the deepening of development narratives that prioritize human dignity alongside resource management.
“We are not here merely to recount challenges or mark time. We have come to celebrate footprints of stewardship, intention, and transformation. It is two years into the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, and we are witnessing early fruits of genuine environmental recovery in the Niger-Delta. We are seeing a redirection of energy from military deployment to intellectual and infrastructural empowerment. Universities now rise where tension once simmered, and peacebuilding gives way to economic building.
“Across the region, organizations once chiefly known for surveillance and security are becoming engines of corporate social responsibility and community engagement. The Niger Delta is no longer a metaphor for grievance and volatility. It is becoming a metaphor for possibility and visibility
“Visibility in environmental justice, where coastlines once ravaged by pollution are entering national consciousness as frontiers of regeneration.
“Visibility in national planning, governance, and intellectual capital. From the growing implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act to the rising prominence of Niger Delta voices at the helm of national affairs. We are no longer merely participants, we are shaping the direction of Nigeria’s unfolding narrative”.
National Coordinator of the Niger Delta Youth Council Worldwide, Engineer Jator Abido, lauded President Tinubu’s reforms, including renewed attention to modular refineries, oil and gas asset protection, and youth engagement. he urged the administration to go further by strengthening the Presidential Amnesty Programme and working closely with the NDDC to implement youth-focused initiatives in education, skills, health, and mental wellness.
“As a Youth Council representing the hopes and voices of millions across the creeks, cities, and uplands of the Niger Delta, we must emphasize that the future of this administration’s legacy in our region rests on a deliberate investment in youth development, environmental justice, and inclusive economic participation.
“We appeal for the deepening of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and call for greater synergy with bodies like the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to roll out region-specific interventions in education, skills training, health, and mental wellness — because a stable youth population is a stable region.
“We also urge President Tinubu to champion a new Niger Delta Master Plan that responds to the realities of climate change, insecurity, and unemployment in a way that benefits both host communities and the nation at large”.
His Royal Majesty, Stanhope Okeorji of Amato Mgboko community in Abia State acknowledged Tinubu’s efforts but appealed for stronger grassroots impact. “It is not easy managing 36 states. We understand, but our people are complaining bitterly. Those close to the president should let him know,” he said.
Similarly, His Royal Highness, Abiye Iyo, Omubaraibibo of Etche LGA in Rivers State, commended the president’s role in restoring peace between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike as he called for increased investment in tech-driven job creation for youths.
“We thank the president for his swift intervention in rivers state and to help help broker peace between Governor siminalayi Fubara and the federal Capital Territory minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, for all of us here we can not strive without peace and peace in the Bible was mentioned in the Bible up to five hundred times without peace there will be no development so we should embrace peace in the Niger Delta. We want the organisers of this event to look into job creation for our teeming youths now that the world has gone digital whatever the president policy is it should centre on tech”.
