Ex-agitators from the Niger Delta region have hailed the performance of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) administrator, Dr. Dennis Otuaro, urging all regional stakeholders to continue to support him.
During a meeting in Port Harcourt at the weekend to evaluate PAP’s progress under Otuaro’s leadership since his appointment by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the ex-agitators noted that his actions and achievements align with the programme’s mandate.
The meeting was convened by the national chairman of First Phase Ex-Agitators, His Royal Highness Henry Binidodogha, also known as Egbeme One, the King of Ofunama Kingdom, and the secretary-general, First Phase Ex-Agitators, General Nature Dumale Kiegha.
Speaking on behalf of the ex-agitators after the meeting, Binidodogha expressed satisfaction with Dr. Dennis Otuaro’s leadership, highlighting that, within less than a year of his appointment, he had successfully enrolled 1,700 students in various tertiary institutions under the PAP Scholarship Scheme.
He said Otuaro also ensured that 10 scholarship students in special fields of study were sent to foreign institutions in the UK, USA and Canada in his quest to develop the needed critical manpower in the region.
He said, “We have also seen results in education this period. Under Otuaro without the usual rancour, protests and other crisis, 316 scholarship students graduated from their various universities. About 41 of them also graduated from the Nigerian Law School.
“We also noticed that 10 foreign scholarship students completed their studies. In time past, we had students protesting lack of logistics, non-payment of school fees bringing embarrassment and shame to the scheme. But under Otuaro students only face their studies because they know that their logistics, welfare and fees will be paid on time”.
Binidodogha said the ex-agitators also reviewed the handling of verification and orientation exercises under the current administrator and discovered that 1,594 scholarship students in 122 institutions were verified and participated in orientation exercises in line with the students’ charter and formal education policies.
“We also discovered in our review that PAP under Otuaro has a way of ensuring quality and standard for its scholarship students by constantly keeping in touch with the universities.
“For instance, PAP’s delegation inspected facilities at six universities, including Nigerian Maritime University, Gregory University among others to ensure quality standards. So, they are always on ground to monitor situations”, he said.
He also said Otuaro ensured gender balance in deployment of scholarship students, adding that through constant verification, Otuaro discovered that 16 students absconded from their programmes and saved N41million for PAP.
In his remarks, the secretary-general, First Phase Ex-agitators Gen. Nature Dumale Kiegha, said Otuaro’s constant engagement with all the stakeholders in the region had helped to deepen the peace in the Niger Delta region.
He said the PAP boss had maintained constant interactions with critical stakeholders such as youths, traditional rulers, women groups and community leaders and ensured that PAP events were held within the Niger Delta region.
Kiegha called on all stakeholders in the region to support Otuaro to enable him achieve more feats and warned against any attempt to pull him down.
He acknowledged the support of President Tinubu for the programme through his National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and appealed to the president to allocate more funds to PAP.
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