Federal Government ON Wednesday promised to complete about 9,000 projects lying fallow in the Niger Delta region.
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswil Akpabio, stated this when he briefed State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa Abuja.
Akpabio said that the approval to complete the abandoned projects, construction of nine housing estate as well as building one skill acquisition Centre in each of the states under the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, was given by the council.
He disclosed that work on the skill acquisition centres was 90 per cent completed.
He said that the Niger Delta ministry was engaging the communities in the region to ensure the safety of lives and property as well as the development of the area.
The Minister further said that the ministry was making frantic efforts to positioning the NDDC to focus on legacy projects in order to leave behind a legacy in the region.
Senator Akpabio said that about 1600 people from the region have been empowered.
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He said, “We briefed the Council today on the number of people that are so far been empowered in the 100 days. About 1600 people have been empowered. And some of them with different skills through the skill acquisition program and we are building one skills acquisition Centre one per state in the Niger Delta.
“Many of them are at 80,90 per cent stage of completion. It encompasses about 88 units, so it’s almost like a technical college with accommodation and other facilities.
“We are also doing what we call nine estates in the Niger Delta region from the ministry perspective to also add value to the available housing of the Federal government policy.
“We are also positioning the NDDC to focus on legacy projects to leave behind something for the Niger Deltans.
“We also hope to complete the over 9000 projects that are lying fallow in the Niger Delta region for the benefit of the people, that will not only add value to the system but will also ensure that the post amnesty ERA will bring about the industrialization and also create jobs opportunities for the people.
“We talked also about what is going in terms of remediation aside the Ogoni Clean-Up. The Ministry is also engaged in remediation, we are trying to recover the soil that had been lost due to oil pollution and exploration.”
