It focuses on the infrastructural development, environmental protection and empowerment of youths in the oil rich Niger Delta region.
[2] Yar'Adua said that the Ministry would coordinate efforts to tackle the challenges of infrastructural development, environment protection and youth empowerment in the Niger Delta.
[3][4] The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) treated the announcement with caution, saying the new Ministry could be yet another avenue for corruption and political favoritism.
[8] In July 2009 Yar'Adua appointed Larry Koinyan of Bayelsa State, a retired Air Vice Marshal, as the new chairman of the NDDC.
[13] Peter Godsday Orubebe was appointed Minister of Niger Delta on 6 April 2010, when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan announced his new cabinet.