The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS,<\/p>\n
has indicated willingness to support the development efforts of the Niger
\nDelta Development Commission, NDDC. This followed a visit of a delegation
\nfrom the international organization to the NDDC headquarters in Port
\nHarcourt yesterday (Friday).<\/p>\n
Speaking for the US group, Ms. Jennifer Cooke, the director of the CSIS
\nAfrica Programme, said that the international community was well disposed
\nto investing to facilitate the growth of the Niger Delta, adding that
\ngetting it right was very important for the region and the West Africa at
\nlarge. \u201cThere have been so many plans for the development of the Niger
\nDelta and so many efforts to get it right. If you get it right, there are
\nso many people who are willing to invest in your success,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cooke noted that the Niger Delta had enormous potentials that needed to be
\ndeveloped for the benefit of the people living in the region. She assured
\nthe NDDC of assistance in getting the attention of Nigerian watchers and
\npolicy makers in Washington.<\/p>\n
According to her, \u201cthe NDDC has a big opportunity to inspire people in
\nterms of implementing the existing plans for the region. It is important
\nthat people are inspired on new ways of doing things. If you don\u2019t want
\npeople to get fatigued, you have to inspire them to do things
\ndifferently.\u201d<\/p>\n
The acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, told the
\nvisiting CSIS delegation that the commission needed the support of all
\nstakeholders to succeed in the task of developing the Niger Delta region.
\nShe stressed the need for local and international organizations to pull
\nresources together to ensure that there was development in the Niger
\nDelta, noting that the world could not afford to ignore the region.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cIf you don\u2019t get the Niger Delta right, every one suffers.
\nThere is a lot of wealth in the belly of the Niger Delta and it is way
\nbeyond oil and gas. We need the assistance of CSIS to take our story to
\nthe rest of the world. However, we are not looking for handouts. We don\u2019t
\nneed that. What we need are partners who will work with us to bring growth
\nto the region in ways that are sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NDDC boss later took the CSIS delegation to inspect the on-going
\nconstruction of the Niger Delta Regional Mother and Child Hospital in Port
\nHarcourt, which had suffered some delays on account of poor funding.
\nBriefing the NDDC and CSIS team on the project, Arch Peter Dateme, the
\nprime consultant, said that the 233-bed hospital would be completed in 12
\nmonths if funds were made available to the contractor.<\/p>\n
It could be recalled that the NDDC Managing Director recently inspected
\nthe Niger Delta Regional Specialist Hospital (orthopaedic and
\ncardiovascular) also being built in Port Harcourt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS, has indicated willingness to support the development efforts of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. This followed a visit of a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n