Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dennis Otuaro, has assured committed to sustaining the trajectory of academic excellence recorded by the scholarship students. He added that despite its lean budget, the PAP has made significant achievements.
He also said that many delegates and beneficiaries from impacted communities in the Niger Delta region have received quality training and high-level manpower skills in diverse fields of human endeavours.
Otuaro disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting with former agitators in Warri, Delta State, with the theme: “Fostering, Consolidating, and Collaborating for the Peace, Security, Stability, and Development of the Niger Delta.”
In a statement yesterday signed by the special assistant on media to the administrator, Igoniko Oduma, he said that the PAP was an opportunity to resolve some of the challenges of the Niger Delta, especially human capital development.
He urged ex-agitators enrolled in the programme to avoid anything that could undermine the objectives of the PAP, which is inimical to peace and security in the oil-rich region.
Otuaro stressed that all stakeholders in the region must work towards this goal and consolidate the success of the Amnesty Programme to prevent the Niger Delta from relapsing into the pre-amnesty years of serious conflicts and violence, which negatively impacted the region and the country.
“Sustaining the peace and security of the Niger Delta is the mandate of the Amnesty Programme, and we must do this for our communities, our children, and their children. Several are gainfully employed as air traffic controllers, flight instructors, aircraft maintenance engineers, pilots, and underwater welders.
“Others have also been trained and empowered through the programme and are doing very well in various trades such as fashion design, unisex salon, fish farming, baking and confectionery, rice production, hairdressing, cement, and building materials”, he added.
Otuaro urged the stakeholders not to worry, as he had assurances from President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that the federal government would prioritise the development of the Niger Delta.
