While inaugurating the programme at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt yesterday, the commission’s interim administrator, Dr. Efiong Akwa said it was designed to tackle the challenges and lack of opportunities facing youths in the region.
Akwa commended president Muhammadu Buhari and the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana, for supporting activities aimed at harnessing the creative potential of youths in the Niger Delta. He said: “The entertainment industry is growing bigger everyday. The Nollywood industry occupies a major platform amongst other entertainment industries in the world. When you talk of entertainment the next thing you hear is Nollywood industry in Nigeria. Niger Delta is blessed.
“Let me use this opportunity to tell the world that youths of the Niger Delta are the best you can find around the world. They are calm, confident, they seek to excel in whatever endeavour they find themselves. “In the field of soccer, the youths of Rivers State and Akwa-Ibom are taking the lead; wrestling, Delta and Edo are tops; swimming Bayelsa and Rivers are unbeatable.