By Obiabin Onukwugha
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has launched an internship scheme for 10,000 youths from the nine states across the Niger Delta region.
The scheme, according to the agency was established to equip youths in the region with relevant skills and experience needed for gainful employment and also to prepare them for self-employment through entrepreneurship.
The scheme which has a one-year duration will commence by the end of August and will accommodate young people across different levels of education and experience.
Speaking at the launch of the scheme in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Monday, Chairman of NDDC Governing Board, Barrister Chiedu Ebie, said the scheme is strictly for persons below the age of 45 years, pointing out that admission into it would be highly competitive and based on merit.
Ebie also pointed out that a monitoring, evaluation and learning framework will be instittuted for the scheme to measure success and provide learning outcomes which will be reported to the general public and stakeholders for transparency.
In his speech, NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, applauded youths of the Niger Delta region for maintaining peace in the entire region amidst the nationwide protest.
Ogbuku said: “The protest was not meant for the people of the Niger Delta. We have demonstrated that we might be diverse in our languages, but we have one ideology. When the people of Niger Delta were protesting, nobody joined us.”
He called on companies that left the region in the heat of the unrest to come back as the Niger Delta has become the most peaceful region in the country.