The Contributions of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and its Effect to Economic Development in South-South, Nigeria

The study investigated the effect of the contributions of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to economic development in South-South, Nigeria. One research question and one hypothesis were formulated for the study. The sequential explanatory mixed method (Quantitative and Qualitative) design was adopted for this study. The population of this study comprised 10,123 respondents (3,356 youth associations executives; 6,310 registered Community Development (CD) associations/committee executives; and 457 NDDC staff) in South-South, Nigeria. The sample for this study was 478 respondents which comprised 129 Youth Associations’ Executives;133 Registered CD Associations/Committee Executives; and 222 NDDC staff across the four selected States in South-South Nigeria (Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta and Rivers). The instrument for data collection was self questionnaire titled; “Economic Development Questionnaire (EDQ). Three experts validated the instruments, two from the Department of Adult Education and Extra-Mural Studies and one from the Department of Science Education (Measurement and Evaluation Unit), all in the Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. A reliability coefficient of 0.87 was established as a measure of internal consistency using Cronbach Alpha statistic. Data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation in testing research question while ANOVA was used in testing hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings from the study revealed among others that Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has contributed to economic development to a low extent in South-South, Nigeria. Following the findings of this study, it was recommended among others that NDDC should put more efforts in terms of creating more employment opportunities for youths, establishment of skill acquisition centres, and youth empowerment programmes among others in South-South of Nigeria, in order to ensure economic development in the area.