Group Warns of Rising Tensions in Niger Delta Over Delay in Project Hope, Launches CSR Initiative

In a bid to prevent renewed agitations in the Niger Delta, Lead Consultant and Creative Director of D. Consiglories Nigeria Limited, Fubara Blessing has announced a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative aimed at engaging the region’s youth.

This move comes amid growing discontent over the delay in the implementation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Project Hope, launched in June 2023.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday, February 18, 2025 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Fubara emphasized his company’s commitment to the people of the region while waiting for the NDDC to fulfill its promise.

“While we wait for our principals to direct further for better and holistic implementation, we see it as our corporate social responsibility to support the people we have made commitments to”.

“As part of this initiative, the Niger Delta Music and Arts Project will commence with auditions beginning February 28, 2025, across Bayelsa, Delta, Ondo, and other states in the region”.

Additionally, Fubara announced the launch of a job creation program.

“From the end of this month, we will announce the first 18 employment opportunities, covering professional jobs, labour jobs, skilled jobs, and technical attachments. We are taking this up as a CSR initiative to keep hope alive”.

He expressed worry over comments and agitations from various mediums which may cause chaos.

“Owing to the level of agitations and concerns of complains that we have seen out there from the youths and people of the region, which almost is beginning now to want to withdraw the consciousness and hope built by the people to give us a safe and peaceful region for business to thrive, we are very worried that we don’t want to go back to that phase where all doubt will again resume, where sincerity of purpose would again be doubted”.

“As a company duly registered by the corporate affairs commission of Nigeria as an indigenous company as well, we want to today take up the responsibility that we see as corporate social responsibility to our region and of course the people that we have made commitment to that, while we wait for our principal to direct further for better and holistic implementation”.

The prolonged delay of Project Hope has raised serious concerns among regional stakeholders, with accusations being leveled at the NDDC for failing to deliver on its promises.

Executive Director for Relief International Africa, Green Isaac did not mince words in his critique of the commission’s handling of the program.

“It is becoming like the NDDC is turning into a Ponzi scheme. They have promised the youth of the Niger Delta so much, yet nothing has materialized. Instead, what we see is an administration benefiting its friends, family, and cronies”.

Echoing these sentiments, Alfred Etuk, a former Special Adviser on Youth in the NDDC, Alfred Etuk, acknowledged the frustrations of young people in the region but commended Fubara for taking proactive steps to prevent unrest.

“We appreciate this bold move. If not for this, we might have fallen back to the old ways of protest and agitation”.

He further urged the NDDC to expedite the full implementation of Project Hope. “We hear the cries of the youth. Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, the MD, has good intentions, but whatever is causing this delay must be resolved immediately”.

With tensions rising over stalled development initiatives, the CSR intervention spearheaded by D. Consiglories Nigeria Limited is seen as a strategic effort to mitigate growing frustrations in the Niger Delta.