NDDC pledges to fight poverty.
The Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, said on Monday that the interventionist body would fight poverty, especially in the rural areas of the region.
Semenitari explained that the NDDC, in partnership with relevant stakeholders like the Presidential Amnesty Programme, was ready to create a template on how to key into President Muhammadu Buhari’s objective of moving Nigeria from poverty to wealth.
The NDDC boss spoke when the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh (retd.), paid her a courtesy visit at the commission’s corporate headquarters in Port Harcourt.
Semenitari pointed out that fighting poverty could be achieved by catering for the poorest among the people, adding that Nigerians would always do their best if the enabling environment was created for them.
She said, “The Chinese say that as long as your neighbour is hungry, your chicken is not safe. That is why Nigeria needs to look at the issue of poverty affecting the country; not only in Niger Delta, but across the country.
“What we can do with the Amnesty Programme and the NDDC is to provide a template that enables the country to understand how we can engage the rural poor, the vulnerable population of our country. We must move this country from poverty to wealth and we will do so when the poorest is catered for.
“I can assure you that we are already thinking along the same line, and indeed, that is the mindset of Mr. President. He is committed to moving our country from a country of poor people to a country of proud people. Nigerians are proud and always ready to do the best that they can if we create the enabling environment.”
Semenitari promised that the NDDC would collaborate with the Presidential Amnesty Office to reintegrate over 30,000 former militants in the Niger Delta region.
Recalling that the Niger Delta had, in the past, suffered a lot of deprivation through environmental degradation, she believed that the situation should not stop the region from moving forward.
PUNCH.
