STAKEHOLDERS GATHERS TO BRAINSTORM ON CITIZEN-LED INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION

It was an interesting moment as stakeholders in the Niger Delta region comprises of development partners, Civil Society Organizations, community leaders, opinion leaders, women and youth gathered for the maiden edition of NIGER DELTA CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FORUM (NDCEF) to discuss on the issues in the area and to increase participatory citizen-led inclusive economic development in the region.

The event which was hosted at Presidential Hotel, Port Harcourt and organized by USAID Nigeria in partnership with PIND and NDPI has seasoned panelists who extensively highlighted the problems facing the region and how to address it wholistically. Speaking on the topic: MAKING NIGER DELTA INSTITUTIONS WORK BETTER FOR PEOPLE, Amb. Joe Keshi emphasized strongly that for the area to move forward, the leaders of the area and the people must live up to their expectation.He identified a dearth in leadership as a major challenge and the need for the area to be developed educationally. Ambassador Joe stated that the Niger Delta region must have a consensus for significant and meaningful improvement.

Hon. Nimi Walson-Jack who spoke on INCREASING CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT IN DEVELOPMENT IN NIGER DELTA call for civic engagement with the political leaders and development partners for sustainable development. Another panelist, Dr. Margaret Ogbanga who spoke on INCREASING THE SPACE FOR MARGINALIZED GROUPS IN THE NIGER DELTA asked rhetorically who are the marginalized groups in the Niger Delta. She calls on the leaders of the area especially governors of the Niger Delta states to provide sufficient empirical evidence on how they have utilized the resources at their disposal. She call for increase space to engage leaders and the need for the people to hold their leaders accountable. Tammie Kammonke in her presentation on THE ROLE OF DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS IN SUPPORTING CITIZEN-LED GROWTH IN THE NIGER DELTA enjoin the people of the area to get involved in the issue of development so as to avoid a situation where project sited do not have meaningful impact on the people.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Party of SACE (Strengthening Advocacy and Civic Engagement) Project, Charles Abani in his welcome address thank participants and development partners for attending the event and reiterated the need for USAID through SACE (Strengthening Advocacy and Civic Engagement) and other development partners in the region to increase a participatory citizen-led inclusive development initiative. Goodwill messages were presented by stakeholders while SACE Project Partners in the Niger Delat region which include the following organizations: Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR), Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Youth Alive Foundation (YAF), Ugboroke Progressive Fish Farmers Association (UPFFA), Edo State Cooperative Farmers Agency Ltd (ESCFAL), Nembe City Development Foundation (NCDF), Leadership Initiative for Transformation and Empowerment (LITE-AFRICA) and Social Action(SA) came up with the following recommendations for a well developed Niger Delta region:

1. Niger Delta states and institutions should ensure greater citizens participation, improved access to governance information for its citizens, and coordination among themselves to create trast between government and citizens.
2. There should be proper utilization of public resources and development partnership among the States in the zone.
3. Agricultural policies need to work in the Niger Delta so that there will be increased production of food and inclusive economic development which will contribute to job creation for youths and women.
4. The appropriation laws (budget) of Niger Delta States should be open, participatory and easily accessible.
5. We encourage National Assembly and respective State Assemblies to step up oversight on Niger Delta Institutions such as NDDC, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, and Oil and Gas Commissions to improve their effectiveness.
6. All states should be committed to the promotion of social cohesion in governance process to address development gaps facing the region.
7. Niger Delta states and institutions should urgently address the huge crisis of youth unemployment in the zone through well-tailored policies for young people's development and participation.
8. The government of the Niger Delta states need to make addressing youth employment a key priority and formulate effective policies that will provide the financial resources to address unemployment and youth poverty in the region.
9. To ensure effective collaboration between communities, states and security agencies.There is need to promote programmes that will empower communities to drive conflict resolution and mitigation.

There was also product fair by SACE Project partners. Below are some photo clips of the event.