Group Backs Call for Accountability, Responsive, Competent Youth Representation in NDDC

By Osaro Michael, Benin

The Society for the Welfare of Unemployed Youths of Nigeria (SWUYN) under the leadership of Comr. Preye V. Tambou, has aligned itself fully with the timely principled stand articulated by Chief Diplomat Adam E.O.O. Marbo, President of the Niger Delta Patriotic Youth Leaders Forum (ND-PYLF), regarding the critical state of youth engagement within the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

According to the group, the time has come to speak boldly, not as critics, but as stakeholders whose sacrifices have too often been overlooked by the very system they helped to stabilise.

The group emphasised that it would not endorse incompetence and stagnation, adding that they will not remain indifferent in the face of ineffectiveness.

The statement reads, “the time has come to speak boldly, not as critics, but as stakeholders whose sacrifices have too often been overlooked by the very system we helped to stabilise. We will not endorse incompetence and stagnation. We will not remain indifferent in the face of ineffectiveness.

“Our unified observations demand attention:

“1. The current Special Assistant on Youth Affairs to the MD/CEO of NDDC, Mr. Matthew Dango has failed to demonstrate a working grasp of inclusive youth engagement and strategic programme development that addresses the real needs of our region’s youth population.

“2. Consultations and empowerment initiatives are being monopolised by individuals who made no visible contribution during the difficult periods of advocacy and protest that restored institutional leadership at the Commission.

“3. Our members and partner organisations, many of whom were at the frontlines during the campaigns for structural reforms in the NDDC, continue to be left out of processes, programmes, and policy inputs that they rightfully deserve to shape.

“4. We are concerned about the growing disconnect between the office of the SA on Youth Affairs and the grassroots, which undermines the MD/CEO’s broader developmental vision.

“5. We urge Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, whose emergence was made possible through the collective will of youth advocates, to urgently reassess the current youth engagement structure. Loyalty to process must not be exchanged for loyalty to personalities.

“6. If the current trajectory is not corrected, we are prepared to escalate our advocacy through strategic civic actions, not for vendetta, but for vindication of purpose.

“We are not anarchists. We are nation-builders. We believe in dialogue, but not in silence. We are committed to progress, not to political patronage. Unemployed, not uninformed. Marginalized, not powerless.

“Our call is simple: Reposition youth engagement within the NDDC with leaders who possess vision, grassroots connection, strategic foresight, and tested capacity.

“Anything short of this is a betrayal of the very youths whose sacrifices rekindled the relevance of the Commission.

“Let this stand as a formal declaration of alignment with the broader Niger Delta youths and a firm expression of our resolve”