The South-South Development Commission (SSDC) has taken a significant step towards transforming the region’s economic landscape. Following the successful inauguration of its governing board, the SSDC leadership, led by Managing Director/CEO Usoro Akpabio, is engaging in collaborative talks with a renowned indigenous integrated agricultural/engineering innovative prodigy. The partnership aims to reverse the long-practiced retrogressive trends in the region and engaging in collaborative talks with a renowned indigenous integrated agricultural/engineering innovative prodigy.
The partnership aims to reverse the long-practiced retrogressive trends in the region and actualize President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda through homegrown development initiatives using international best practices. Usoro Akpabio, in her commitment to progress, is relentlessly in pursuit of innovative solutions to complex development challenges that have bedeviled her region of jurisdiction. This drive has championed most of the initiatives and steps she has taken in the last few weeks since mounting the saddle of leadership of the development commission.
As a visionary leader who understands the needs and aspirations of the people of the region, Usoro is poised to build a more prosperous, equitable, and resilient South-South region. Her vision for the region is centered on harnessing the power of agriculture, with emphasis on cocoa, fishing, rice production, and other agricultural activities, to drive economic growth, job creation, and rural infrastructure development.
Some of Usoro’s key strategies includes establishing Local Cocoa Processing Hubs to boost livelihoods and strengthen economic resilience across communities, focusing on skills acquisition, entrepreneurship, and job creation to promote inclusive growth, especially among youths and women as well as investing in rural development to enhance economic opportunities and improve living standards.
The SSDC’s collaboration with the Prodigy firm is expected to leverage local and international expertise to drive sustainable development in the region. Some key areas of the Commission’s focus include, strengthening security partnerships with the Defence Headquarters to safeguard critical infrastructure and promote economic growth, promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and value-added industries to reduce dependence on a single revenue source and capacity building through the enhancement of skills and capabilities of the local workforce to drive economic development.
The SSDC’s initiatives are poised to unlock the region’s vast potential, driving economic growth and improving living standards. With Usoro Akpabio’s visionary leadership and the support of strategic partners, the South-South region is set to experience a transformative development agenda that aligns with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.
Umoh Sunday is the Port Harcourt Bureau Chief of Decision Makers Online Newspaper.
