Netherlands to collaborate with FG on Niger Delta development

The Kingdom of Netherlands has expressed interest to collaborate with Federal Government in development of Niger Delta region.

The Kingdom of Netherlands’ Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. John Groffen stated this on Monday when he visited the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Gen. Paul Boroh (Rtd) in Abuja.

The Ambassador also expressed the readiness of the Kingdom of Netherlands to join hands with other development partners in cleansing the Ogoni land and other polluted areas of the Niger Delta.

Mr. Groffen said his country was gratified with the recent smooth transition of power in Nigeria and had decided to partner Nigeria in every possible areas of collaboration to actualize peace and development of the country, particularly in the oil rich region of Nigeria.

He said Nigeria remains a dependable economic partner to Netherlands and as such stands to enjoy the support of Netherlands in restoring the much needed peace in the oil region.

‘‘We are happy with the smooth transition of power in Nigeria. We see Nigeria as a country of endless potentials. We are committed to collaborating with this Office to restoring peace in the Niger delta region.

‘‘Beyond that, we are going to attract companies that will bring development to Nigeria that is why we are here to seek possible areas of collaboration with the Amnesty Office.

‘‘Nigeria is an economic partner for us. We will see what we can do to ensure success of that plan. We will seek possible ways to collaborate with government.
‘‘We have good relationship with our host communities through our Ditch companies operating Nigeria. We will be involved in cleaning up the Ogoni land as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility. We will also look into training some ex-agitators at Netherlands Institute of Conflict resolution.’’

Responding, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Gen. Paul Boroh (Rtd) said the Office is more concerned on how best to reintegrate ex-agitators to be gainfully employed.’’

‘‘We will come up with integrated plans for other development partners to support what we are doing. We are formulating different amnesty plan to achieve sustainable reintegration plan for ex-agitators.’’

He further appealed to the envoy to bring their experience to bear in Niger Delta by replicating the Multi-country demobilization and reintegration programme (MDRP model for PAP delegates for sustainable reintegration that will drive peace and development in Nigeria.

Earlier in a presentation by the Post Training and Engagement Unit of the Amnesty Programme, the office said 30,000 delegates have so far been shortlisted and documented for implementation of unique empowerment programmes for the beneficiaries of the programme and out of which, 17,000 have been trained on various skills and empowerment programmes. Out of this number, 822 are women.

He appealed to the Netherland ambassador to buy into the new development plans by engaging some of the trained youths to become self-reliant and relevant in securing the oil facilities in the region.

It also sought the cooperation of the Netherlands to consider training the youths of other skill building areas as: divers, drillers, pipeline welders and fabricators, power generation and other technical training.

From Militancy To Manufacturing: N-Delta Youths Shock The World With Locally Made Products

FOR  many who thought that nothing good can come out of Niger Delta, the up-to-the-minute promotion/exhibition of products manufactured and packaged by some ingenous youths of the region at Calabar, capital of Cross River State is astonishing. Under the auspices of the Calabar Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises Summit, powered by Growth and Employment in States (GEMS4) in collaboration with Made in Nigeria (MiN) Global Consulting Services, the youths displayed items, including cooking burner (plate) that smolders with bio fuel from cocoa, melon, afang, okro and other varieties of soup packaged in ready to eat forms like noodles.

Niger/Delter youths: The inventors and thier products, including cooking burner that burs with bio fuel, bags, beads, others all locally-manufacutred.

There was cocoa juice without sugar or preservatives, custard, soap, accessories made from waste clothing materials among others. Over time made in Nigeria goods have been perceived as second-rate due to packaging and branding, but a lot has changed in recent times following the intervention, financially and otherwise of local and international agencies.

What the young manufacturers need

In a chat with Niger Delta Voice, Manufacturers Associa-tion of Nigeria, MAN, Cross River/Akwa Ibom states branch, Elder Obong Jackson, argued that gone were the days when Made- in -Nigeria products were considered as sub- standard or not good enough .

Made in Nigeriaproducts

“All the items   you see being exhibited   here today are all sourced and made in Nigeria, the only thing we need,    especially the Niger Delta region is some form of encouragement,    either as loans and grants to enable such manufacturers expand their businesses,” Jackson said.

According to him, “Another challenge they are facing is the tedious and difficult process involved in registering most of the products with NAFDAC,SON as well being able to register company/products names, including getting patents to protect your invention. All these have become obstacles to so many entrepreneurs in the region.”

His words,    “The procedures for registering most of the products and entry points should be reviewed because it has discouraged many young entrepreneurs from venturing into real production and manufacturing, we really appreciate what GMES4 and MiN Global are doing to help made in Nigeria products grow.”

My husband and I invented cooking burner- Mrs Agbor

Speaking with Niger Delta Voice, an inventor, Mrs. Ndifreke Agbor, revealed that the cooking burner she invented can cook for 14 hours, 30 minutes with a litre of bio fuel and burns better than gas.

She said, “What you are looking is completely the creation of me and my husband, we are trying to get the patent before we start mass production.  As you can see, it has passed the entire test and is certified. Immediately we get the patent, it will enter the market, most of our inventions are cocoa- based, and we make soaps, custard, and fruit juice and so on.”

Thanks to GMES4 and MiN Global

Another entrepreneur, Mr. Kufre Emmanuel,    “Words alone cannot explain how we feel today, because majority of the people that consume our products are Nigerians, who live in the Diaspora ,so you can imagine what this platform will do for us, anywhere they are,    all they need do is just to order.” He also disclosed that the platform has eliminated many hurdles and made it easier to do business, both in and outside the country without stress.

NAFDAC barrier

Emmanuel, however, bemoaned how difficult it is to get NAFDAC approval for a product,    but also commended the agency for helping producers to    maintain standards,    while appealing for a review of the procedure, especially at entry point. “We have varieties of packaged soup, and we have to register all of them differently according to NAFDAC standard and it will cost    of lot of money but we are glad that the platform created by MiN consult has eliminated the middle man and it will do all of marketing too,” he added.

We mean well- NAFDAC coordinator

Cross-River state NAFDAC coordinator, Mr. Isaiah Kolawole,  explained, “The way our operations are designed is not to be an obstacle to anyone, but protecting the health of the nation is very paramount to us. We also need manufactures to understand that the right things must be done at all times, they should also avoid cutting corners because it endangers the health of the public.”

Our mission- Mendie

Senior Intervention Manager GEMS4, Mr. Micah Mendie, told Niger Delta Voice, “We want to use this platform to encourage made in Nigeria products as well as give them a space and voice in the global market.    It is an opportunity to prove that our products can compete perfectly anywhere in the world, most of the people you see here just need a little push and that is what we represent.”