A former special adviser on Niger Delta Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Kingsley Kuku, has urged the interim administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Major-General Barry Ndiomu (rtd) to revive and complete all vocational training centres in the region.
Kuku who also served as chairman of the PAP under the Jonathan administration, made particular reference to the vandalised vocational training centre in Kaiama, Kolokuma Opokuma local government area of Bayelsa State, carried out by hoodlums in 2019.
Making the passionate plea at the Presidential Amnesty Office in Abuja, during a courtesy visit to the interim administrator, Kuku regretted that the facility will undoubtedly cost billions of naira to revive.
“Bring back the centre, no matter what it will cost you,” he said, adding that the facility when revived, can serve as advanced training centres for universities in the region, even beyond being a facility for training ex-agitators.
Kuku commended the late President Umar Yar’Adua, ex-Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, as well as incumbent President Bola Tinubu for the creation and sustenance of the programme respectively.
On malicious media attacks against Ndiomu, Kuku urged the interim administrator to remain steadfast in his “commendable” resolve to impact lives in the Niger Delta. “Nobody will thank you or appreciate you as interim administrator. The only thing you will get are abuses. But they will thank you tomorrow,” Kuku added.
Commending the Aviation Resuscitation Programme for Pilots/Aircraft Maintenance Engineers under which some of the beneficiaries are currently undergoing their Type-rating Certification Programme in South Africa, he said, “In today’s Aviation Industry, any Pilot without Type-rating is nothing. You are touching lives. After what you are doing for them now, they will get jobs easily”.
He expressed delight that Ndiomu has brought back hope to the Niger Delta, and assured of his unalloyed support towards sustaining the gains of the amnesty programme.
Earlier in his remarks, General Ndiomu told Kuku that his administration is resolutely building on many of his legacies, adding that the enormous number of graduates under the Amnesty Scheme today, can be traced to his (Kuku’s) doggedness to better the lives of ex-agitators.
