The new Interim Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Efiong Akwa, has said the commission will redeem its image and foster more collaboration with state governments in the Niger Delta region.

He made the declaration at the fourth meeting of the National Council on Niger Delta in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Akwa stated that the NDDC would strengthen the relationship between the commission and the governments of the Niger Delta to make them partners.

The Director, Corporate Affairs of NDDC, Victor Odili, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt quoted the new NDDC boss as underlining the need for collaboration with critical stakeholders to drive the process of development in the Niger Delta region.

The statement partly read, “The Niger Delta Development is ready; we have come up with a theme, ‘Redeeming the image of NDDC that will drive the commission.’ Gone are the days when you hear of supply of desks and chairs; we will engage the governors, the royal fathers and other stakeholders of the region, so that we can harmonise the needs assessment and set our priorities right and also get them tackled.

“Whatever we are going to do, will be a product of structured planning that will put all the energies of the Niger Delta states together. The Niger Delta states will be integrated, such that in the next few years, the Niger Delta region will be a force to reckon with. It will be a region that investors would run to.

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“I want to plead that the peace that is currently reigning in the Niger Delta should be maintained because there is no meaningful development that can take place without peace. We have the best behaved youths with what we see around. We have a good level of corporation from our royal fathers, as they also give the youth a good sense of direction, hence with all these efforts, the Niger Delta region is poised for the best.”