By  Simon Ebegbulem
BENIN CITY-THE Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), yesterday, stressed the need for human capital development of the people of the region, saying that it is the only solution to a permanent peace   irrespective of the level of infrastructure available.

The Managing Director of the Commission, Mr Chibuzor Ugwoha, who stated this in Benin City when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of the state also lamented what he described as the “very low” emphasis on the development of agriculture in the region, regretting that the country spent $2.8 billion last year alone on rice importation when it should have produced internally.

He therefore disclosed that the Commission would make good use of the land the state government donated to it so as to at least generate employment opportunities for the youths of the region in that sector.

Ugwoha pointed out further that infrastructural development alone would not solve the restiveness in the area, adding that without human capital development which he said is one of the focal points of the new management of the Commission lasting peace may not be achieved.

He disclosed that the Commission was also collaborating with the Nigerian Maritime And Safety Agency (NIMASA) to train at least 1,000 youths from the area as seafarers with a view to take advantage of the over 50,000 vacancies in that area in the nation’s maritime industry.

His words: “All of us know that education is power. If we are able to develop the human capacity, it will go a long way in solving our problems. That is why we are also sending 200 graduates from the region to Norway by September this year so as to go there for their post graduate programmes because if we are able to do that, those people can be readily employed”.

Responding, Governor Oshiomhole said the quality of some jobs so far carried out in the state was not commensurate with the amount used for them adding that there have been misplacement of priorities by the commission in the identification and execution of projects.

He however, commended the present practice where the state government is allowed to nominate its representative into the board of the commission, this he said would make room for the commission to complement whatever the state was doing.

According to him, “when I see the NDDC building classrooms, I see it as poverty of the mind. The challenge of translating resources to action remain one of the key challenges of Nigerian leadership; leadership at the level of the presidency, leadership at the level of the governors, leadership at the level of local governments and of course leadership at the level of agencies”.