Dozens of young Niger Delta IT entrepreneurs (netpreneurs), geeks, start-ups, NGO operators and others converged at the Heleconia Park, Intel Estate in Port Harcourt, Rivers state. They are the masters of their chosen fields in the Garden City and were led by young, frisky podcaster of Stroll Live, Ebenezer Wikina, who is Curator, Port Harcourt Global Shapers, an offshoot of the World Economic Forum. The assembly was held as part of the ‘Meet The Leader’ dialogue series.
About 50 youths from region engaged the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC?, Mr Nsima Ekere on sustainable development in the Niger Delta and how youths can get involved. The discourse was facilitated by a partnership of the PHC Global and the Chevron Nigeria Limited-funded NGO PIND Foundation’s Niger Delta Link, an information and communications platform of the NGO, which works towards “leveraging the power of the internet to unite stakeholders in the region.”
The gathering was refreshingly different from those usually held to ‘find solution to the Niger Delta problem’. These youths were not the usual ‘youth leaders’ – some of whom usually are passed the half century age mark but still remained ‘youths’. These were graduates, start-ups and entrepreneurs in various fields aged from 20 – 30 years, brimming with ideas and running with them. They are graduates, who rather than seeking employments, are empowering, mentoring and even employing others.
Dayo Ibitoye, a development communication consultant, who studied Chemical Engineering at the Ahmadu Bello University, led the NDLink team. A very bright and intelligent young man, Ibitoye was already productive and making good use of his time and energy as a ‘Campus Reporter’ for The Nation newspapers’ before he graduated from ABU, Zaria.
Other young leaders were ThankGod Okorisha, a journalist and former intern at 99.1fm; Bryte Chinule, a conflict resolution consultant; Randolph Fiberisima, a lawyer, and Onimim Fifi Karibo, a University of Port Harcourt Biochemistry graduate, who found her passion in the kitchen and runs a very successful catering service – Fifi House of Food – in Port Harcourt.
The gathering presented the NDDC MD a very pleasant surprise. He was taken aback by the quality of the gathering, so much so that he described the crop of youths as refreshingly different from what Niger Delta youths are known for both within and outside the country. “We are not known for this”, Ekere said.
Continuing, he noted that the air of optimism and positive vibe in the room gave him hope about the future of the region. “When I come in here and meet a very different environment it gives me a lot of hope. What people know us for is aggression, street harassments, kidnappings, violence, blowing up pipelines. That’s what being a youth in the Niger Delta is looked at and that’s how people see us.”
Ekere was not the only person who shared that view. One of the participants was concerned that the negative image was a source of problem, stressing that a study she conducted in the region showed that impressionable young children see militants and warlords as their role model. “80percent said they want to be militant because those who own the big houses and driver fast cars are militants.”
The NDDC top shot and the participants agreed that that should not be the case. He challenged the youths to expand and educate their counterparts across the region so that children don’t see warlords and criminals as role models. He said those who see violence and thuggery as a means of earning a living must rethink their ways, noting that the culture of giving out handouts as a means of ‘empowerment’ was not only unsustainable, but also wasteful.
He decried the tag of militancy that currently hung over the region, stressing that strategic investments and projects that can affect the social and economic landscape of the region are taking flights as a result. He noted that the Dangote refinery, which is currently being built in Lagos, could have been located in the region, but for that stigma and fear of insecurity.
Ekere, who made his mark early in the real estate business, told his audience how an early life car accident changed his life for good. He disclosed that the desperation arising from the need to repair a friend’s car that he damaged, opened his eyes to opportunities around him and showed him that “if you do not just sit in your office and wait for the salary at the end of the month, if you take initiative and decide to run around, things can actually happen!
“There is the saying that your attitude determines your altitude in life. For you to have the right attitude, you must have the right mindset, education – formal and informal. If we do this, we will see that all these things that we are complaining about will begin to fall into place.”
He tasked members of the group to be change agents, promising to work with them to change the narrative about the region. He said it was important for the PH Global Shapers members to become the image that people see when they think of Niger Delta youths
Wikina and other members of the group urged the NDDC MD to help establish an information technology hub in Port Harcourt. They noted that the city is missing out on opportunities that such facility could generate, which their counterparts from Lagos and Abuja and other parts of the country are enjoying.
Wikina, who won the International Journalist Network, IJNet, “Journalist of the Month” in September 2016, revealed that the Port Harcourt Global Shapers was committed to improving the state of the world by starting from the Garden City of Port Harcourt. He said the
In response to the appeal, Mr. Ekere revealed plans to use cable to convey excess internet capacity from Nigeria’s neighbouring Sao Tome to the states of the region. “One of the things we want to do is to have the IT connectivity in the Niger Delta. We have had several meetings and there will be more meetings,” he promised.
Besides IT, he said the NDDC was aggressively pursuing agriculture as a way of securing the region’s future. “The emphasis on scholarship has been science and engineering, but things are changing, petroleum is not the way of the future. There is also agriculture and the value chain, something to add value. You send somebody to go and study engineering and when he comes out can he be on his own? He has to look for a job and if you cannot get that job, what happens?”
Speaking on the outcome of the event, Ibitoye said, “I am happy at the quality of engagements, the energy and enthusiasm from everyone. There is hope for the region and I am happy to be part of those changing the narrative.”
