By Chidiebere Onyemaizu
Speakers and stakeholders at the 2025 International Youth Day Celebration recently held at Boji-Boji Owa, Ika North-East local government area of Delta State have commended the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for preparing the region’s youths for the future through human capital development of the youths initiatives.
They also harped on the need for the region’s youths to embrace technology, skills acquisition, and innovation as pathways to sustainable development and social transformation.
Welcoming participants to the event which was powered by the NDDC, the Commission’s Executive Director of Finance, Mrs. Josephine Ejereye disclosed that the Youth Day celebration was aimed at advancing multilateral cooperation through technology and partnership.
She urged the youths to apply lessons from the engagement to impact their world positively, noting that the commission was committed to creating opportunities for young people across the region.
Also speaking, United Nations Peace Ambassador and Senior Special Assistant to the Delta State Governor on Talent Development, Amb. Ugagaoghene Ogheneyole was full praises for the NDDC board led by Barrister Chiedu Ebie for bringing vitality and valve to the Commission, describing the current leadership as “a truly interventionist body delivering quality, people-oriented, and immensely important infrastructure across the region.” He called on young people to embrace digital skills as tools for problem-solving and regional growth.
Ogheneyole noted that the present era is one of digitalization, where technology is indispensable for addressing human needs, listing computer literacy, artificial intelligence, data science, coding, audiovisual design, UI/UX, and digital marketing as skills in high demand across industries.
He emphasized the need for the NDDC to move beyond physical infrastructure to continue to invest in human capital through digital incubation centres, grants, and venture capital for youth-driven innovations.
“The Silicon Valley did not grow into an over a trillion-dollar industrial ecosystem because of great ideas alone. Its major driving force was conscious investment in youth ideas through grants, sponsorship deals, and venture capital. If the NDDC and other stakeholders can intentionally invest in the dreams of young people carrying laptops around with big visions, the Niger Delta will reap the benefits of job creation, improved GDP, and capital market growth,” he said.
Pledging his personal commitment to the process, Ogheneyole said he was willing to volunteer to work with the NDDC for free to design a roadmap for youth-driven innovation. “As a youth of Niger Delta, I am pledging to volunteer, to work with the NDDC to develop a realistic initiative to drive this process. Let us become the change we want to see,” he told the gathering.
In his presentation titled “Youth as Frontiers of Positive Change in the Niger Delta” the Executive Director of the Centre for Core Values, Leadership and Orientation, Abuja, Barrister. Eugene Uzum, described Niger Delta youths as critical drivers of sustainable development, explaining that with more than 54 percent of Delta State’s estimated 5.9 million population falling within the youth bracket, the demographic advantage could stimulate massive growth if given the right opportunities.
Uzum, a former Director-General of the Delta State Orientation Bureau, identified four pillars for meaningful youth contribution empowerment, innovation, community engagement, and sustainable development. He stressed that empowerment through education, mindset reorientation, and access to financial and technical resources was “primus in the scheme of determinants” for change.
Uzum noted that many young people in the region were already leveraging technology, entrepreneurship, and creative solutions to tackle local challenges. According to him, initiatives in environmental conservation, renewable energy, entrepreneurship, and civic responsibility could reposition the region for growth.
“Youth-led initiatives are already driving positive change in the Niger Delta, promoting sustainable development and good governance,” he said.
While acknowledging challenges such as insecurity, corruption, and limited resources, Uzum insisted that with proper support, young people could transform the region. He urged youths to take personal responsibility for their progress, admonishing that “going far in life is not determined by where you start from, or even whether you start at all. Life is actually what you put into it. Nobody owes you a living”
The event formed part of activities to mark the 2025 International Youth Day Celebration, and featured robust discussions on how to reposition the region’s youths as leaders, innovators, and agents of sustainable development.
