By Ike Uchechukwu

CALABAR—MANAGING Director of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Mr Bassey Abia, has described women as key agents of peace and stability with the capacity to drive sustainable socio- economic development through human capacity building in the Niger Delta region.

Abia in an address delivered by the Cross River State  representative on the board of NDDC, Mr  Paul Adah at a one –day sensitisation workshop in Calabar, said: “NDDC sees women as major stakeholders with great potentials of not just creating but sustaining the much needed peace for the development of the Niger Delta.

“The commission is determined to strengthen the capacity of its women to create wealth and promote peace, thereby create a conducive and secured atmosphere for the development of the region.”

He noted that before now, the commission has been working with women in the Niger Delta and had conducted awareness campaign on breast and cervical cancer for them in partnership with Shell Petroleum Development Company  and also equipped almost 2,000 rural women and young girls with various skills to enable them eke out a living.
“We intend to carry out awareness campaign to discourage child trafficking and violence against women,” he said.