DR OGAGA IFEWODO, DELTA STATE NDDC COMMISSIONER (LEFT) HANDING OVER SOME NOTEBOOKS TO THE SENIOR PREFECT OF EMORE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, OLEH DURING THE PRESENTATION OF NOTEBOOKS TO FOUR SCHOOLS IN DELTA STATE.

By Francis Sadhere

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has  donated note books to four schools in Delta State as part of its human capital development mandate.

The Delta State NDDC Commissioner, Dr Ogaga Ifewodo who handed over the note books to the schools said that the gesture was a tip of the iceberg of what the schools in the state should expect from the commission in the years ahead.

Our Correspondent reports that the  schools that benefited from the gesture include; Emiye Girls Grammar School, St. Michael’s College, Isoko Central School and Emore Grammar School, all in Oleh, Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State.

Dr Ifewodo who spoke while handing over the note books to the various schools said that  NDDC is committed to bringing development to the Niger Delta to ameliorate the pains of the people, adding that the distribution of the note books was the commission’s small way of lifting the burden of buying note books from parents.

He explained to the school children why the NDDC was created, noting that the commission was created as a result of the constant cries by the people of the Niger Delta region who were neglected in spite of producing the crude oil that is used to feed the nation.

“Another thing that the NDDC is supposed to do is to focus on human capital development. This means it will focus on human beings like you, your teachers, your parents and me. This also means that human beings are also referred to as capital and as the most important capital that we have, it means we should train them in schools and ensure that they have good building and good learning environment.

“You all need books to learn and that is why we in NDDC decided that we should give you these note books to make learning easy for you. Even though we cannot give you all the note books that you needed, we decided that we should give you a few so that you can add to the ones you already have,” the NDDC Commissioner  said.

At Emiye Girls Grammar School, Oleh the Vice Principal of the school, Mrs Eunice Edherue who represented the Principal, while thanking the commission for the gesture also appealed to the NDDC Director to help them build their school hall and staff quarters as these two things were the most important things they needed at the moment.

The Principal of St Michael’s College, Edafe Ndoma Edoka on his part commended the gesture of the NDDC but however appealed to the NDDC to provide text books for the children as this according to him, will help the children greatly in their academic pursuit.

The Delta State NDDC Commissioner also inspected some ongoing road projects in Emede and Igbide communities in Isoko South Local Government Area of the State.