By Victor Akaa
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Aminu Aliyu Bisalla has charged staff of the Ministry at the state offices to show more commitment in the discharge of their responsibilities towards the development of the Niger Delta region and Nigeria in general.
Bisalla gave this charge at an interactive session between the Management of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the staff of the state offices in Cross River and Akwa Ibom states on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
A statement made available to newsmen by deputy director of Press ,Stephen Kilebi, said the permanent Secretary revealed how successive administrations in the country had shown concerns on the development issues affecting the Niger Delta region over the years.
He added that the Ministry was being repositioned to facilitate the realisation of the development concerns.
“We have begun to restructure the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in a bid to strengthen its offices in all the nine states of the Niger Delta so as to achieve its mandate of improving the lives of the people of the region,” the Permanent Secretary stressed.
He reiterated the need for the Ministry’s staff in the nine states to relate properly with the people at the grassroots in order to know their needs so that necessary actions could be taken to address them.
“You have to be very vibrant in discharging your duties so that the Niger Delta people will be able to feel the impacts of the huge investments of the Federal Government and other development partners in the region,” he emphasised.
Bisalla reiterated the resolve of the Ministry to reposition the state offices to be the true ‘eyes’ of the Ministry in the region. He also assured the state officers of better welfare and quality working environment.
In his remarks, the Cross River State Coordinator, Engr. Iheomamere Okoro, thanked the Permanent Secretary and the Ministry’s management for their restructuring efforts at making the state offices of the Ministry functional.
He opined that the efforts would fast-tract the development of the Niger Delta region, which he said was the major mandate of the Ministry.
The Permanent Secretary is on tour of the state offices to interact with staff so as to have a first hand information on their challenges in order to address them.
