The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has empowered over 200 women in Delta State with financial literacy, savings and investment skills, as part of its programme to drive entrepreneurship and sustainable wealth building across the Niger Delta.
The training, held in Agbor in collaboration with Human Dignity Foundation, brought together women from all the 25 local government areas in the state.
Flagging off the exercise, the Chairman, Governing Board of NDDC, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, said the Commission was deliberately focusing on women and youth because of their multiplier effect on families and communities.
“This is one of the many programmes that NDDC has for indigenes of the Niger Delta. Today is specifically for women empowerment, just to empower and enlighten our women,” Ebie said.
“We have sustained these programmes. This year alone, I’m sure we’ve probably had in excess of 30 or 50 of such programmes spread across the nine states of the NDDC. For ease of management we break them down state by state, and also by senatorial zones.”
He added that the Commission’s approach was not about one-off grants but about building capacity.
“Our first interest is for them to learn. We hope that at the end of the day it impacts them positively and when they leave here they are able to apply what they have learnt in their day to day lives.”
On the focus on women, Ebie said: “Women are special to us. If you train a woman, you train the entire family and community. So we will continue to prioritise women and youth so that at least we can help grow the family. We are gender-friendly and gender-sensitive.”
Also speaking, the NDDC Director of Culture and Women Affairs, Mrs. Ahunna Imoni, disclosed that NDDC would sustain the impact through mentorship and access to finance.
“We have their contacts, we call them and we advise them on what to do, how to grow their businesses and how to move forward so it’s sustainable. We also have our Chamber of Commerce, Trade, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, and women are encouraged to register with them. They are giving out loans. Before they give out the loans they do follow-up trainings for them.”
On expected outcomes, Imoni said: “After this programme, we will have women who are now financially literate, women who are now saving, women who are now investing, women who have opened savings accounts. We are not here to teach women how to fish. We are teaching them how to own the fishpond themselves. By this time next year, we will see women who have formed cooperatives from this group.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director, Delta State Office, NDDC, Warri, Mr. Onoriode Omo-Idayo, represented by Mrs. Omodayo Wunmi, said the programme was designed to promote financial discipline, charging participants to take advantage of the exercise.
The event also featured lectures from academics at the University of Delta, Agbor. Prof. Adesina Oladipupo, Dean, Faculty of Management Sciences, spoke on What Financial Literacy Is; Dr. Florence Igweh lectured on Questioning and Analysing Financial and Saving Texts; while Dr. Ernest Chukwuka spoke on Applying Financial Literacy Skills Daily.
Beneficiaries commended NDDC for the initiative, saying the training had given them fresh impetus to grow their small businesses and manage finances.
