Managing Director, NDDC, Nsima Eker
The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has started discussions with a Chinese firm, SINOTEC Company Limited for the execution of a Niger Delta Regional Power Pool Project.
The NDDC Managing Director, Mr. Nsima Ekere, stated this during a meeting with officials of the Chinese company at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt. He remarked that the NDDC was looking for ways to stimulate industrial growth in the Niger Delta region.
Ekere, who was represented by the NDDC Executive Director Projects, Engr. (Dr) Samuel Adjogbe, observed that activities in the Niger Delta region revolved almost exclusively around oil and gas business.
According to the NDDC boss, “we have looked at some indicators, and it is obvious that the power requirement for industrial growth in the region is not available. So, we need to make a deliberate effort to set up projects that can boost power and attract investors to the region.”
He said that NDDC was interested in setting up the regional power pool to help provide adequate power that would be subsidized for the industrial parks planned for the nine states of the region. The power pool arrangement, he added, would benefit all Niger Delta people.
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer expressed delight that feasibility study for the project had been concluded, stating that the next stage would be to prepare the actual design and thereafter produce an agreement to spell out the conditions and terms of engagement.
Ekere urged the Chinese firm to work out the details to be presented at a subsequent meeting on February 6, 2018, showing the funding requirements since finance was always a challenge. “The meeting will also give us the opportunity to explain the interface with NDDC, especially at the technical level,” he said.
Presenting the scope of the power pool project, the NDDC Consultant and Managing Director of Income Electrik, Mr. Matthew Edevbie, said that the project would adopt a strategy “to harness the cheap, abundant, reliable and available power in the Niger Delta region.”
According to Edevbie, adequate power could be used as a catalyst to drive socio-economic growth and industrialization in the Niger Delta. He lamented that the region, with all its God-given natural resources, was yet to be industrialized.
He said: “It is good that the NDDC is looking at development in the region beyond oil and gas. What the project aims to achieve is to produce 7,000 MW of power across 18 power stations of the Niger Delta. It also aims at establishing industrial parks in each of the senatorial districts in the region. The power will be distributed to the industrial parks.”
The General Manager of SINOTEC Company Limited, Mr. Bu Songo, underscored the need for a Public, Private partnership for the development of a power plant in the Niger Delta, stressing that international funding was critical to the successful execution of such projects.
He said that SINOTEC, which had been engaged in different power generation and transmission projects in different parts of Africa, was well versed in contract financing.
Meanwhile, the Commission says it has so far trained and built the capacity of 22,612 youths, including the 100 that just graduated in Home Finishing Skills.
The NDDC Managing Director, Mr Ekere, stated this at the 6th Graduation of Empowerment Support Initiative, ESI, and NDDC Entrepreneurial and Skill Acquisition Training for Niger Delta Youths in Home Finishing Skills in Port Harcourt.
He remarked that the NDDC was currently processing the training of about 5,000 more youths in various skills, noting that the mandate of the Commission went beyond physical infrastructure.
According to him, “it is also about building capacity and equipping our people with skills and competences that enable them to join the rising global workforce. This aligns with the local content policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.”
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer said that the human capacity development strategy of the Commission was anchored on the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan, NDRDMP, which recommended the development of a highly skilled workforce that would enable the region to compete on equal terms with the leading players in the global market.
Ekere said that NDDC had trained internationally certified welding instructors in Nigeria and South Africa, adding that most of the beneficiaries were currently employed as non-destructive test engineers in the oil and gas industry.
He said: “We have also trained 700 school certificate holders in welding and fabrication, 65 engineering and geology graduates in highly specialised petroleum and drilling technology, 150 youths in solar power technology, 180 in oil spill management, 180 in fibre optics installations and thousands of others in various other skills and empowerment programmes, such as fashion design, catering, food processing, computer literacy, among others.”
Ekere said that the healthy partnership between NDDC and ESI demonstrated what could be achieved by collaborating with credible partners driven by the objective of finding solutions to the socio-economic difficulties and challenges confronting the Niger Delta region.
He noted that the building industry in Nigeria was facing a dearth of manpower, particularly in the critical area of office and home finishing and would require several trained hands locally to curtail the dependence on foreigners.
He commended the Board and Management of ESI for going the extra mile to bring world class experts in home finishing skills, from the United Kingdom, to lay a solid foundation for the pilot phase of the programme.
Ekere thanked President Buhari for showing commitment to the development and progress of the Niger Delta region, especially “for initiating the New Vision for the Niger Delta, which will effectively rewrite our history and steady us on the path to sustainable development.”
The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the Federal Government was determined to create new jobs in all sectors of the economy.
He said that President Buhari administration had added millions of new jobs to the economy since it took office in 2015, stating: “before this government came into power; the nation had 5 million rice growers but today 12.2 million rice growers have been added.
Mohammed, however, said that job creation should not be left to the government alone, urging individuals, Non-Governmental Organizations and corporate bodies to join in the effort.
He described the NDDC/ESI entrepreneurship and skill acquisition programme as a well-conceived initiative that fitted into the government’s drive to generate employment for Nigerians.
In her own remarks, Dame Judith Amaechi, Founder and President of ESI, said beneficiaries were trained on P.O.P ceiling installation; wall screeding and painting; floor tiling; plumbing; electrical wiring; specialized carpentry such as wardrobes and kitchen cabinets, as well as interior decoration.
She said the empowerment scheme was created to close the skills-gap that hindered sustainable growth in the Niger Delta, noting that ESI was focused on tackling endemic poverty by developing a skilled force that would enable our youths to be employable and self-employed.
The graduating students of the Home Finishing Skills training were each given certificates, starter packs and N150,000 to enable them stand on their own.
