By Awhawha Awhawha
The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has charged young girls in the Niger Delta region to embrace Digital Education and Artificial Intelligence to provide solutions to societal challenges.
Speaking during the Niger Delta “Help the Girl Child” programme organised by the NDDC at the Justice Mary Odili Judicial Institute in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the Commission’s Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, stressed the importance of educating girls and giving them a voice in society. He encouraged students to embrace digital education and act as positive ambassadors for the Niger Delta and Nigeria.
Ogbuku, who was represented by an NDDC Director in Education, Health and Social Services, Dr Patience Ezugu, maintained that the Commission would continue to provide comfortable and enabling platforms for the dreams of the girl child to be actualised.
He said: “Apart from infrastructural development, we are into human capital development. The NDDC is saying let us start from the grassroots by giving the girl child good education and equal rights.
“At NDDC, we have provided other initiatives that support educational programmes by distributing textbooks and U-lesson tablets to improve digital learning. We want the girl child to embrace digital education. We want you to be problem solvers who think outside the box.
The Managing Director said that the Help the Girl Child programme aimed to equip girls with the knowledge and resources to secure a better future.
The programme included health and hygiene practices demonstrations, with hygiene kits distributed to students. Ezugu reiterated NDDC’s commitment to fighting harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and early marriage, emphasizing that education is key to overcoming poverty.
“We, at the NDDC support coding, and in line with good health, we have immunised school children against Cholera, Yellow Fever and Hepatitis B. Please say no to drug abuse and always remember that education is the easiest way out of poverty,” she said.
In her welcome address, the Director of the NDDC state office, Port Harcourt, Mr. Okezie Ule, represented by Mrs. Benjamin, encouraged the girls to take education seriously. She said, “Never relent in keeping your self-worth paramount.”
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Rivers State, Barr. (Mrs) Uche Oriri addressed the girls on the laws of the land being gender neutral. She encouraged them to venture into any field of their choice and stand firm on it.
One of the participants, Miss Joy Gabriel, appreciated the NDDC for the programme, admitting that it was beneficial and very impactful.