The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has laid the foundation for the construction of a chapel for Christians at its headquarters in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
At the ceremony, the Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku said that it was fit and proper to build a befitting place to worship God in the headquarters of the commission.
According to a statement by the Director of Corporate Affairs at the NDDC, Seledi Thompson-Wakama, the commission’s helmsman said: “On resumption of office, when I toured the premises, I was shown a corner in the ancillary building where staff were using for worship and as their chapel. I told myself that a facility like the headquarters complex cannot be complete if it did not have a special building for God.
“On 23 December 2023, when we had our end of year thanksgiving, I made a pronouncement that our next thanksgiving would be held in a proper edifice for the worship of God. The place will be specially designated and dedicated for Christian worship”.
Ogbuku noted that the Niger Delta region occupies a special place in Nigeria and deserved to have good things, observing: “I have moved around the country, and you find out that almost all the Federal Government agencies either have a mosque or a church. How come a region, where we have Christianity as the predominant religion, does not have a place for worship in our own Commission?”
He stated: “The chapel will be multipurpose. Anyone from the Niger Delta can have access to it; it is not only to come to NDDC to bid for contracts. This edifice is going to be for the good of the people of the Niger Delta and I know that once it is completed and commissioned within the next six months, we will all return here to hold our thanksgiving.”
In his prayers at the ceremony, the General Overseer of Salvation Ministries, Pastor David Ibiyeomie said that by building a chapel for the worship of God, NDDC had invited the Almighty Father to be in its midst.
He noted that by honouring God, the Commission was attracting more blessings, noting that the Almighty Father had been faithful and merciful to the NDDC and thus deserved to be praised and adored.
The cleric offered special prayers for the management and staff of the NDDC, assuring them that God’s favour would follow them because they have reverenced the Almighty Father.
NDDC’s Executive Director for Finance and Administration, Alabo Boma Iyaye thanked the Managing Director for initiating the chapel project. He observed that God had answered the prayers of the staff by bringing the current Board and a Chief Executive Officer that is “God-fearing and eager to make a difference in the Niger Delta region”.
