By Adedapo Adesanya
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has flagged off a programme targeted at youths to harness their creative gifts in the entertainment industry and reduce unemployment across the region.
While flagging off the programme – Niger Delta Talent Hunt (NIDETH) – at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, the Interim Administrator of NDDC, Mr Effiong Akwa, assured that the agency would continue to create programmes to address the challenges of youths in the region as well as elevate the initiatives of youths in the Niger Delta.
“Niger Delta is blessed. Let me use this opportunity to tell the world that the youths of the Niger Delta are the best you can find around the world. They are calm and confident, they seek to excel in whatever endeavour they find themselves in.
“In the field of soccer the youths of Rivers State and Akwa-Ibom are taking the lead; wrestling, Delta and Edo are tops; swimming Bayelsa and Rivers are unbeatable.
“Our focus in this programme is to identify the talented youths, build them up and expose them to the world. We want to use this as an opportunity to provide a platform to expose the hidden talents in the region. If you build the youth, you build the nation,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Akwa’s Special Adviser on Youths, Mr Udengs Eradiri, described the Niger Delta youths as enterprising, observing that musical talents from the region had challenges in getting support and platforms to express themselves.
“The creative industry is one area in that we can engage a lot of idle young people. We will continue to play our role in supporting institutions to create the platform to push our young people into the international community. We must keep the creative sector alive in the Niger Delta to develop young talents and showcase them to the world.
“The Niger Delta youths need to be a part of these opportunities. We need to create engagements so that young people, who have a lot of energy can channel it towards talent development. The work of the NDDC is that of an interventionist agency. It is part of our job to create opportunities for young people to express themselves.”
In his remarks, the NDDC Director, Youths and Sports, Mr Offiong Ephraim, said that NIDETH was a flagship programme of the NDDC Youths and Sports Directorate aimed at exposing the inherent talents in the Niger Delta region.
Mr Ephraim said the talent hunt programme would kick off from the first phase which is Ondo, Edo and Delta State and followed by the other phases with the grand finale taking place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State noting that it would cover the nine states of the Niger Delta Region.
Also present was Mr Okiri Harrison, also known as Harry Song, who is an ambassador and consultant for the programme.
He said that the new NDDC youth programme was a dream come true for those in the creative sector.
Modupe Gbadeyanka