The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Dr Dennis Otuaro, has urged delegates of the PAP and youths of the Niger Delta to safeguard the prevailing peace in the region.
Otuaro advised them to realise that protecting the region from violent actions and disruption of the peace would attract more businesses and increase economic growth in the area and Nigeria in general.
He stated this at the weekend while addressing leaders and members of Phase One, Phase Two, Phase Three, and other region youths on day three of the PAP Office’s expanded stakeholders’ meeting in Warri, Delta State.
Otuaro, in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Igoniko Oduma, on Sunday, described the PAP delegates and Niger Delta youths as worthy partners for peace-building, development and investment in the region.
“The Presidential Amnesty Programme is your programme, and you are all important partners in the peace process of the Niger Delta. As far as this programme is concerned, you are partners for peace, development, investment and economic growth in Niger and Nigeria as a whole”, he said.
He said the office believes in engaging stakeholders and empowering delegates, beneficiaries, and youths, mainly through its educational and vocational programmes.
The PAP boss, while thanking the delegates for their consistent support for him, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), and President Bola Tinubu, reassured them that the president was serious about completing the East-West Road and other big-ticket infrastructural projects in the region.
Otuaro also stated that the President had given his nod to an upward review of the office’s annual budgetary allocation, stressing that this would enhance the inclusion of more youths and women in the PAP initiatives.
He restated his call on all delegates and youths to avoid protests and resist any temptation to participate in demonstrations, which would never be in the interest of the region or the nation.
Otuaro said, “We must continue supporting our communities, our region, the country, and President Bola Tinubu. Again, I appeal to you to shun any protest being rumoured to occur on October 1st.
“For us, the Niger Delta people, we are partners in progress. All leaders and members of Phase One, Phase Two, Phase Three and others will not participate in any protest in this country.”
Several participants took turns to speak at the meeting, including rights activist and founder of the Movement for the Survival of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), Elder Timi Ogoriba and former freedom fighters Eris Paul alias Ogunboss and Pastor Reuben Wilson, said that the region had moved beyond the era of protests.
Similarly, the chairman of Delta State Traditional Rulers Council and Orodje of Okpe Kingdom, HRM Major General Felix Mujakperuo (retd.), has called on the people of the Niger Delta, particularly youths, not to take the peace and security of the region for granted.
Mujakperuo called when the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Dr Dennis Otuaro, paid him a courtesy visit in his place at Orerokpe, stating that “peace and security are vital and essential in human endeavours.”
He commended President Bola Tinubu for sustaining the PAP. He lauded the late president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for establishing the programme, noting that the initiative had been a significant catalyst of peace, security and development in the Niger Delta.
The first-class monarch expressed confidence in Otuaro’s ability to administer the programme per its objectives and applauded Tinubu for appointing him.
“Let us not take the peace and security (of our region) for granted like the air we breathe. So, we are interested in peace because if there is no peace, there will not be development in our kingdoms”, Mujakperuo said.
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