• To train of Niger Delta Youths too
By Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu
The Chairman of Niger Delta Development Commission, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, has reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to encourage local entrepreneurs, vowing that the commission would henceforth patronize Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) plant.
Egba said since the federal government had made it mandatory for government agencies and departments to patronize local contents, so NDDC will not only champion it but would mobilise other government agencies to follow suite.
The NDDC chairman spoke when he paid a courtesy call on the IVM Chairman, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, at his Nnewi office. He said the commission would also partner Innoson Kiara Academy in training Niger Delta Youths.
 During the inspection visit at the Nnewi centre of Innoson Kiara Academy, the training arm of Innoson Group which currently has students from the Presidential Amnesty Office, Ndoma-Egba stated that the commission would partner the academy to train thousands of Niger Delta youths and would start immediately with about 100 youths.
  He emphasised that the training of the Niger Delta youths had become a necessity because NDDC wants to groom another kind of militants in the region; militants of knowledge, militants of creativities, militants who will be job creators, militants who will develop and build their region.  Also during the factory tour of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd, the NDDC Chairman was amazed that the Innoson factory was not just assembling vehicles but was actually manufacturing made-in-Nigeria vehicles.  Chukwuma expressed appreciation to the chairman of NDDC for his visit and assured him that the academy had the capacity both in terms of space and human resource to deliver quality training to the Niger Delta Youths that will make them outstanding.  Chukwuma said presently the academy had graduated about 400 ex-agitators with many of them performing greatly in different parts of the country.  He further thanked the NDDC chairman on his promise to patronize Innoson Vehicles, stating that if other departments and agencies do so, Innoson Vehicle will become one of the greatest vehicle manufacturing in the world.
