PIND paid a courtesy call to the Governor of Delta State, represented by the office of the Secretary to the State Government, to officially congratulate His Excellency on the new administration’s inauguration. This visit provided an opportunity for PIND to discuss its ongoing interventions and activities and existing partnerships with the state Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and how PIND could align efforts with the state Governors focus on economic development, peacebuilding, and youth and human capital development, as well as other areas of further collaboration with the state.
In his remarks, the PIND executive director (ED), Tunji Idowu, emphasized PIND’s Market Systems Development (MSD) approach to economic growth aimed at reducing poverty and improving access to information and finances through commercial service providers, which has been focused on supporting smallholder farmers in the state. He commended the state’s efforts in providing access to arable land. He introduced the opportunities available through the forthcoming Agriprenuer Project, which will focus on increasing gainful employment for the youth, especially women in the state.
The ED recognized the state’s achievements through its job creation program and the collaborative path that PIND has played. Through the YEP program, PIND provided about N41 Million to 66 entrepreneurs as challenge funds to youths who had completed their programs, and PIND plans to incorporate youth into the forthcoming agriprenuer project to reduce unemployment and create an ecosystem of jobs to complement what the state is doing in job creation, especially in the food market.
Read more here; https://pindfoundation.org/start-business-challenge-fund-grant-signing/
With PINDs PIA implementation efforts, the ED provided insights into PINDs collaboration with Ford Foundation to build the capacity of 50 NGOs/CSOs and create awareness of PIA for about 600 people from HCDTs across the Niger Delta, of which 200 were from Delta State. In this regard, he also indicated the establishment of a Multistakeholder Platform comprising oil companies, CSOs, HCDTs, and state representatives so that they can work together to get things working. He urged the state to provide a representative on the MSP.
Read more here; https://pindfoundation.org/bridges-project-awareness-creation-workshop-begins-5-states/
Dr. Kingsley Emu, the SSG, who represented the governor at the meeting, appreciated PIND’s efforts and all its work in supporting the state. He mentioned that he wasn’t new to PIND and is happy to continue collaborations with PIND even in the new administration. He stated that a lot has been done in youth development and job creation, with youths as the focus, which has recorded a considerable growth in non-oil GDP with a rise in agriculture and other sectors.
He also explained that the state has spent a lot of money on peacebuilding and plans to spend more, considering peace is an enabler for economic development. He also explained that the state trained and jumpstarted over 15,000 entrepreneurs and created a lot of platforms to empower women. On PIA, the SSG noted it is a work in progress and thanked PIND for what they have done so far. He promised to get personally involved to work with PIND to bring efforts together to manage HCDTs and settlors in Delta State.
