Flood control: NDDC to partner UN agency in Niger Delta
The Niger Delta Development Commission has said it will partner with the United Nations Satellite Centre to find lasting solutions to the challenges of flooding in the Niger Delta region.
The NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, stated this during a virtual presentation on ways of combating flood challenges in the Niger Delta region by a technical team of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.
This was contained in a statement issued by the NDDC Director, Corporate Affairs, Dr Ibitoye Abosede in Port Harcourt on Wednesday and sent to newsmen.
Ogbuku charged the centre to proffer long-term solutions to environmental challenges such as flooding facing the Niger Delta region, saying temporary solutions were not sustainable and had become a drain pipe on the resources of the Federal Government and its agencies.
He said: “We are open to partnership in finding a lasting solution to the perennial flood in our region. As an interventionist agency, we are looking at solving the problems of the Niger Delta region permanently rather than treating the symptoms.”
Speaking further, Ogbuku noted that solving the flood challenges of the Niger Delta region could not be addressed by the NDDC alone and called for collaboration between the interventionist agency and the various levels of government.
Reacting to the proposition from UNITAR to train and certify youths of the region in Seafaring, Ogbuku said: “We are willing to partner with you on training seafarers. At NDDC, our focus is not just building physical infrastructures but also developing human capital.”
Earlier, the former Country Representative of UNITAR, Dr Larry Boms, observed that 19 United Nations development agencies in Nigeria were working with various government departments and agencies.
He said, “As an interventionist agency, the NDDC is evaluated based on how well the NDDC meets the Sustainable Development Goals.
“We propose to train Niger Delta youths in seafaring. German ship owners have offered to train the youths for one year to enable them to get their seafaring certifications.”
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