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  • FG should increase Amnesty Programme’s budget, says Wilson

    FG should increase Amnesty Programme’s budget, says Wilson

    South-South Coordinator of The Asiwaju Group, TAG, Chief Reuben Wilson, has made a case for an upward review of the budgetary provisions for the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP.

    The former Niger Delta freedom fighter, who is also the founder of Pastor Reuben Initiative for Good Leadership and Accountability (PRIFGLA) made this appeal in a letter addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    According to him: “This appeal is premised on the fact that the annual budget of the Presidential Amnesty Programme with respect to the training and welfare of the beneficiaries has remained the same from the beginning of the programme in 2009 to date, irrespective of the current high cost of living and training of the beneficiaries.

    “The upward review of the annual budget of the Presidential Amnesty Programme is long overdue and it’s greatly hindering the proper and effective execution of the objectives of the programme. There’s therefore an urgent need for an upward review of the budget, especially now that we have a sincere, competent and critical stakeholder as the Administrator of the programme.”

    He said he was “highly elated that it’s Chief (Dr.) Dennis Brutu Otuaro that is in charge of the programme now. I know that he has the capacity to unite all the beneficiaries and critical stakeholders of the programme,owing to his level of competent leadership and experience in the Niger Delta struggle.

    “I’m therefore, appealing that Mr President should upwardly review the annual budget of the programme and bring it up to speed with the current realities to enable the new Administrator effectively reposition the programme for better results.

     “Chief (Dr) Dennis Otuaro has been part of the struggle for the survival of the Niger Delta people from the beginning and therefore, knows what to do to revitalize and reposition the Presidential Amnesty Programme, if given the right financial resources. He is adequately prepared and has the requisite experience and knowledge to successfully pilot the affairs of the Presidential Amnesty office to greater heights.”

    The ex-agitator expressed the belief that the amnesty boss would successfully redeem and redirect the office to achieve its primary and fundamental objectives. 

    Read Also: Ex-president Jonathan urges new Amnesty boss to give priority to youth education, empowerment

    Otuaro, he recalled, “played a crucial role in the activities that led to the establishment of the programme and therefore,wouldn’t allow the programme to continue its derailment and bastardization under his watch.

    “There’s therefore, an urgent need for the Programme’s annual budget to be reviewed upward, to enable him execute his mandate efficiently and effectively. Making available adequate funding for the programme is a necessary support that will certainly empower the new Administrator to better discharge his responsibilities.”

    He further thanked the President for “appointing Chief (Dr.) Dennis Brutu Otuaro as Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

    “Mr President has once more, eloquently demonstrated his knack for identifying and appointing talented and competent people to drive his vision for the betterment of the country.

    “I commend you wholeheartedly your Excellency, Sir, for listening to the yearnings of the true beneficiaries and stakeholders of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, by appointing a thoroughbred and well-prepared stakeholder to pilot the affairs of the Presidential Amnesty Office.”

  • Reps and amnesty programme

    Reps and amnesty programme

    • By Ken Ugbechie

    The House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Affairs led by its chairman, Hon. Eugene Okechukwu Dibiagwu, visited the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Barry Tariye Ndiomu, a retired Major-General, recently. The meeting brought the committee face-to-face with the realities of the moment.

    At the end, Dibiagwu explained that the essence of the visit was to interact with the interim administrator and his team on issues verging on the PAP mandate, mission and vision, policies, programmes, and projects as well as the impact of the programme on the ex-agitators, the direct beneficiaries of the initiative launched by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2009.

    Members of the committee were taken through the labyrinth of the programme and its various activities which under Ndiomu has extended beyond payment of monthly stipend to ex-agitators to making professional masterminds, tech whizzes and entrepreneurs out of the once-neglected ex-agitators. They are now critical stakeholders and active participants in the oil exploration, production and marketing value chain.

    After the meeting, members of the committee were unanimous on the following: That Ndiomu and his team have discharged their duties effectively with evidence of sustained peace in the once-upon-a-time volatile Niger Delta region; that Ndiomu deserves to be confirmed the substantive administrator having proven his mettle with sterling display of character and leadership in the management of one of the most challenging, yet critical, agencies in the nation’s wealth-creation mill; that Ndiomu has demonstrated good judgment and judicious deployment of scarce resources in meeting the programme’s increasing obligations.

    The committee members acknowledged the straggling inflation and its effect on the static annual budget of the programme. They, therefore, called for increased funding of PAP to enable it absorb the corrosive effect of inflation and the value-challenged naira. Increased funding will help PAP meet its many obligations which includes capacity-building of ex-agitators both at home and overseas, funding the cooperative scheme that has turned some ex-agitators into entrepreneurs and wealth-creators as well as sustain the skill-up initiatives at vocational training centres.

    In his presentation, Ndiomu took the Reps through the contours and crevices of activities of PAP since he assumed office as chief executive in September 2022. Barely a year and six months in the saddle, Ndiomu brought stability to what used to be an Amnesty Programme blighted by a chaotic mix of administrative tardiness and fiscal heist.

    The General who has contributed immensely in building the respectable international clout ascribed to Nigerian military during his days in the battle grounds of Liberia in the era of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) is truly on duty. His imprint as Garrison Commander, Nigerian Army Headquarters; Chief of Training and Operations (CTOP), Army Headquarters; and study odyssey at the prestigious NIPSS, among other trainings at home and overseas, has made him a rounded man for his present station. A very disciplined retired military top brass and lawyer, he has brought his calm and firm military persona to bear on the programme, and by implication on the Niger Delta region. He did not only widen the frontiers of peace, he also deepened the well of active stakeholder engagement among the critical actors in the region.

    This has come with some rewards for the nation. On account of the peace wrought in the oil-bearing region within the period he has been piloting the programme, there has been a remarkable increase in the volume of crude oil produced by the nation. Going by statistics recently shared by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, crude oil production rose from 1.22 million barrels per day (mbp/d) in Q2 of 2023 to 1.55mbp/d in Q4 of 2023. This was the period that Ndiomu was actively engaging the ex-agitators, giving them hope, equipping them with relevant skills and seed capital to start a new journey in entrepreneurship.

    This rise in oil production is essentially because all is calm in the Niger Delta. With the renewed drive by the President Bola Tinubu government to revive dormant oil fields, net crude oil production output is expected to nose up this year, an expectation that will add more cash to the national till. Peace is critical in the Niger Delta for the economic survival of the nation. But birthing and sustaining such peace is expensive. Several voices including traditional rulers in oil-bearing communities, ex-agitators and their leaders, civil society organisations, some past leaders of PAP and sundry beneficiaries of the programme have in times past advocated for increased funding of the programme.

    Ndiomu himself confirmed what these voices, including the House Committee members, have been saying when he declared that “the purse of the programme is currently stretched to the limits due to forex challenges. This has made the cost of both local and foreign education and other training schemes highly exorbitant.”

    Read Also: Tension as Senate meets over N3tr alleged padding of 2024 budget on Tuesday

    If you factor that PAP is in partnership with 18 universities and maintains synergy with 61 non-partnering universities, then you will appreciate how much the programme spends annually on education and capacity building alone. By last count, a total of 1,659 students’ beneficiaries under the PAP scholarship scheme have graduated from overseas universities. This is aside the more than 19,000 beneficiaries trained by the programme in vocational skills.

    Truly, peace is expensive but it is economical in the long run. The absence of peace is far more expensive because it leads to destruction and reduced productivity which translates to low income. For the government to meet OPEC quota for 2024, it must ensure pervasive peace in the Niger Delta region. It must ensure that the incidence of force majeure on account of violence or threat of it is stemmed significantly, if not completely eradicated. Achieving this will require more funding for PAP to meet the increasing demands and obligations.

    In his early days at his duty post, Ndiomu raised the alarm on the existence of N41 billion debt linked to projects in vocational trainings and empowerment between 2017 and 2019 which he inherited. He also inherited another N14 billion debt from unpaid stipends to beneficiaries, an amount he has since offset.

    Add to this basket of liabilities, vocational training centres in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Ondo states in various stages of completion; the Bayelsa centre at Boro Town-Kaiama which was the only one completed, equipped and ready for take-off was, unfortunately, broken into, vandalized and looted. This, alone, officials say would require about N8 to N10 billion to rehabilitate and re-equip.

    The House Committee members are right. Nigeria needs sustained peace in the Niger Delta to keep the oil flowing. The safest and most reliable way to ensure such peace is to keep the ex-agitators engaged. And PAP has proven a smart vehicle for achieving this. The programme, therefore, deserves more attention, especially funding, than it is currently getting. Having acquitted himself brilliantly, I concur with the House Committee that Ndiomu deserves to be confirmed as the substantive administrator of the programme, for even the Holy Writ says that ‘a labourer deserves his wages.’

    •  Ugbechie, a publisher, writes from Lagos.

  • Amnesty programme vows to complete vocational training centres in Niger Delta

    Amnesty programme vows to complete vocational training centres in Niger Delta

    The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has expressed strong commitment to completing and activating all Vocational Training Centers across the Niger Delta region, to help the the programme reach its full potentials and ensure sustainability of livelihoods of beneficiaries.

    Interim Administrator of the PAP, Major General Barry Ndiomu (rtd) stated this on Wednesday in an interview with Channels Television at the Amnesty Office, Abuja.

    Ndiomu who insisted that the Amnesty Programme has served its purpose, said there are some areas that have not reached their full potentials, especially the completion of Vocational Training Centers.

    He said: “If we are able to complete these centers, we can now domicile training of restive youths in the region. One of the things I have been doing since I came on board, is to source for funds to complete these projects.”

    The Interim Administrator lamented the long-standing complaint by International Oil Companies (IOCs) that youths in the region lack requisite industry skills for employment, a narrative, the PAP is working hard to change, he said.

    Read Also: Amnesty programme trains 20 ex-Niger Delta agitators in aircraft maintenance

     Ndiomu charged state governments in the region complement the efforts of PAP and other interventionist agencies like the NDDC and NCDMB in the region in creating opportunities for young people.

    Responding to questions on possible threats from splinter ex-agitators in the Niger Delta region, Ndiomu reiterated that as at the time of disarmament, not all armed groups agreed to lay down their arms, thus, the PAP was “solely” set up to cater those who embraced Amnesty.

    He added that the PAP Cooperative Fund, unlike other similar initiatives in the past, is strategically set up to drive sustainability of livelihoods, and has been carefully handed over to professional consultants to guide and mentor beneficiaries to ensure success.

  • Amnesty programme trains 2,500 ex-agitators in modern fishing

    The Amnesty Programme will train 2, 500 ex-agitators on modern fishing techniques under the fishermen training programme, which was officially launched on May 24.

    The training involves ship building transfer of technology component, with fish packaging and processing plants. This target will be archieved through partnership with Concept Amadeus Limited.

    Chairman of Concept Amadeus Limited, Prince Patrick Osobase, who is also the Lead Consultant to the Amnesty Programme Office told Niger Delta Report in a chat that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Greek University has been signed for the training and other Greek companies for the project.

    It is obvious that this development would be life-transforming for the ex-agitators as they embrace the programme.

    Osobase said: “We joined the Amnesty Programme in 2015 as strategic communication consultant. While executing that job, we were able to understand the workings of the amnesty office. We have realised that from 2009 when the amnesty office was established by the late President Musa Ya’Adua, there was 30,000 ex-agitators who handed over their arms and embraced amnesty.

    “From 2009 to date, the amnesty still has about 30, 000 men. The amnesty office was supposed to be designed to train, empower and remove them from the programme. And that is why you here from time to time that they want to stop the amnesty programme or shut it down because it was not meant to be forever.

    “But because of the kind of trainings that were being imparted, when the trainings were over, people were scared to employ them because nobody wants anybody who will turn their business upside down when they are angry.

    “So, nobody envisaged that after training them, nobody wants to employ them. They remained in the amnesty programme. Even after they had completed the programme. Government still pays them N65, 000 monthly stipends. And government kept training them. Government has spent over $500 million on the amnesty office from 2009.

    “So, this money is being spent and it is basically a palliative. We looked at it and we said there must be a solution. The first thing we realised was the need to know the reasons for their agitation. The people who used to fish could not fish again because of oil spillage and they were using boats.  So, their livelihoods which they have been using for decades were gone. Right now in Niger Delta they import fish, and buy ice fish.”

    On getting the people back to fishing, which they are used to, Osobase said: “We realised that this is a touching point. If we can get the people back to their fishing career, it might reduce the issue of agitation and also give them what they are used to. We investigated further and we realised that the Greeks have been fishing in these waters for decades and they know the waters.

    “With this development, they promised to bring vessels, train the boys and then employ them to do the fishing for them. And it sounded like a good arrangement. Nigerian government looked into it and agreed.

    “When the Greeks fish, they are fishing for the European Union market and EU has the largest standard in the world. So, you have a situation where the Greeks have to fish, but they have to fish for what they can bring into Europe. So, the training has to be done by them, bringing in a Greek university to train the boys to the standards of EU. If we can achieve that, it means they will get EU certification. And by the time they get EU certification, then it means they can work anywhere in the world.

    “We tabled it before government and for a start we will build 100 vessels and absorb 2,000 boys. And they demanded to have 2,500 boys and the best 2,000 will get automatic employment while the remaining 500 will have certification and they can work anywhere in the world. So, the Amnesty Office accepted the deal and approved it and said it will also assist the Ease of Doing Business.

    “So, with these, Nigerian government signed the agreement with the Greek government immediately and after that, Osobase said: “We thought all is well until during further investigation. Government also reasoned that the Greeks will take all the fish, pay dollars and take the fish? Then government disagreed with that arrangement on the grounds that it will not be good for the economy.

    “As at the time we started this project, Nigeria was importing $1.5 billion worth of fish in a year. If they take all the fish and go with them, we are still going to be importing the same $1.5 billion worth of fish. So government insisted on 50 per cent on the fish they will take away.

    “They agreed but said they have to build a processing plant in Nigeria, so that we can process it to EU standard. They also came up with the idea that in each of the six geo-political zones we have to build deports where we catch the fish in the Niger Delta and move them to all the deports in the country over night.

    “So, within 24 hours, the fish is at its destination. And that is the only way it can be done because if we keep all the fish in the Niger Delta, they will spoil because fish is perishable. If it’s not well handled before getting to the destination, it will spoil. The Federal Government has signed the MoU on the arrangement.

    “The Greeks will recover their money in the next 25 years. We are talking about $300 million expense. Our boys can go to Angola and other parts of Africa to fish and come back to Nigeria. This is business and we have access to the entire fishing coast line region of Gulf of Guinea which is rich in all kinds of fishes. The benefit now is that by coming through Nigeria, they now have access to the higher waters. So, in each of the countries we are registering the Gulf of Guinea fishes.”

    On what Nigeria is going to achieve generally, he said: “We have created the first multinational fishing company in Africa. That is what we will be achieving at the end of the day. This first 100 vessels we are building only 40 will work in Nigerian waters. The rest are been distributed to other parts of Africa.

    “In all the countries, there will be vessels carrying the flags of those countries. But it is the same company. This is a Nigerian initiative so we care about the transactions and agreements. President Muhammadu Buhari chairs the Gulf of Guinea Commission. Nigeria runs the entire bodies that are currently operating those waters which gives us a very good edge and allows us push this forward easily because Nigeria can call for meetings and put things on the table.

    “From next month, we are starting to tidy up that. The first country outside Nigeria that we are going to launch is Angola, and from there we will start opening up others. With the boat industry now in place in Nigeria, we can now train boys in states, empower them. Before the launch nothing could be shipped into the country, because there was no reason to do that. Now that the official launching has been done, the hardware can be brought into the country.

    “Expect that in the next couple of months we will start the training. The training of the 2,500 will take three months. And we are also training another 100 in administrative duties. They will be made administration personnel. They are the people who had First-class and Second-class Upper. “They have been selected from the amnesty data because amnesty spent money training these people abroad. After the training that will be done here, the Greek government has said they will take them over there for another one month, to place them in all the companies that are doing this business and let them have practical experience in the business before the business kicks off fully. It promises to utilise our talents properly.”

    “After training the boys, he said, the Greek government will “take our boys to Greece every three months to work during their fishing season and they will pay them in Euros. These 2,000 boys we are taking out of the system will enable the government to save N1.98 billion per year.

    “The Amnesty Office will not pay out N1.98 billion yearly. For the boys, their future is rosy and for the Federal Government a lot of money will be saved.”

  • Why Buhari is committed to amnesty programme, by Dokubo

    Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs Prof. Charles Dokubo has said the Federal Government views the Amnesty Programme as a necessary and veritable tool to transform the hitherto restive oil rich region.

    This, he noted, informed President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to actualising the objectives of the programme.

    A statement by Dokubo’s media aide, Murphy Ganagana, said the coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) spoke in Abuja at a commemorative rally to mark the struggle for emancipation of the Niger Delta, spearheaded by the late Maj. Isaac Boro.

    The Boro Day is an annual event organised by the Ijaw in all states of the South-south and Abuja.

    Dokubo, described Boro as the first person to see the Niger Delta as a viable region, noted that the Amnesty Programme was a direct reflection of his desires for the Niger Delta people.

    He said: “We are here today because of a journey he started some years ago. What we do here is to symbolise the aspiration and ambition of Boro. Amnesty is a direct reflection of his desires for the Niger Delta people.

    “The Federal Government, under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, took up amnesty, not because it was a difficult task, but because it was a necessary task, and that is why this government is so committed to the Amnesty Programme. I have been around for just a year plus, and I have seen the desire of this government to ensure the amnesty programme survives, and the people of Niger Delta benefit from it.

    “After assuming office, I tried to open the doors of my office to every Niger Delta person; I did that because I know it is necessary and because we need equality of all Niger Delta people. There is no Niger Delta person that has come to my office and had gone back displeased.

    “What I want to do is de-emphasise dependence on N65,000 monthly stipends by beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme so that Niger Delta people can work, earn and also enjoy themselves….”

  • ‘My vision for Amnesty Programme has paid off’

    The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, yesterday said his vision of creating a Job Placement and International Partners Engagement Unit (JP-IDPE) last year has started yielding results.

    Dokubo spoke in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capiatl, at the opening of a Train the Trainer (ToT) training on Nigeria Agricultural Enterprise Curriculum for 20 graduate beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme.

    The training programme is fully funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) Nigeria and organised in partnership with the Presidential Amnesty Programme by Market Development in the Niger Delta (MADE), a non-profit project sponsored by UK-DFID.

    Dokubo, who noted that the partnership project was the first of its kind in the Amnesty Programme, described it as historic.

    The Amnesty chief expressed optimism that it will create pathways for other international agencies to partner the Amnesty Office.

    He said: “On my appointment and assumption of duty as Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme in 2018, I studied the existing implementation strategies and realised that little effort had been made to extend a hand of partnership to relevant international organisations.

    “To rectify this omission, I created the Job Placement and International Development Partners Engagement Unit on May 2, 2018. I am glad that my vision has paid off today. The JP-IDPE unit network produced this MADE project that we see today and we look forward to having more of it.”

    Dokubo recalled that in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the Amnesty Office, MADE agreed, among others, to facilitate a linkage between the Presidential Amnesty Programme and service providers working within its fisheries and poultry sector; provide a Train the Trainer (ToT) training for 20 beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme and select the best five beneficiaries from the NAEC ToT programme for further training for them to become master trainers.

    To ensure that the project is sustained, the presidential aide said beneficiaries of the training programme would be certified as Amnesty Programme training consultants in all vocational and empowerment refresher programmes of Agric-based contracts, and future agricultural training programmes will utilise trained MADE beneficiaries as a requisite for their contract liabilities and payments.

    “The JP-IPDE unit shall ensure that beneficiaries of this post-training scheme receive their full engagement package and are listed as engaged/placed in the database. This includes provision of office space and training room with the necessary office and training room setups through the already contracted job placement consultants,” Dokubo said.

    MADE Team Leader Tunde Oderinde said the partnership with the Amnesty Programme is about Niger Delta youths and the nation’s future.

    He assured the beneficiaries that MADE would back up beneficiaries of the NAEC training with mentorship.

     

     

  • Our plan for amnesty programme, by Dokubo

    THOSE thinking that the payment of monthly stipends to former militants is all the Amnesty Programme means to the oil-rich region needs got it all wrong, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Prof Charles Dokubo, has said.

    The professor, who doubles as the Amnesty Programme Coordinator, said the office was created by the Federal Government as a means to an end and not an end in itself.

    He said: “In the past, the people of Niger Delta had claimed that they have not been given access to things that they should have benefited from their area, especially in the oil industry.

    “It has been discovered that these issues cannot be addressed by just paying stipends to the people. We must create an environment in which they can be educated, vocationally trained and empowered, so that they could attain heights and also have access to employment opportunities in the Programme.

    “Beyond the training, we must also look for job placements so that they can work and we can also stop their stipends once they have jobs. These are issues that we have always confronted and since we have dealt with the two Ds, the reintegration is a serious issue to managers of the amnesty programme.”

    Going forward, Dokubo said the task ahead is how to get those who have sharpened their skills in the various vocational schemes organised by the office gainfully employed and give back to the society by paying taxes.

    He explained: “For me, that mandate is what I want to do. We have done a lot of training, it is now how do we get jobs for these people that we have trained, so that they could earn salary, pay taxes, and also, you know about the multiplier effects of earnings.

    “It is not that the people of the Niger Delta are unemployable; they are employable, given the chances that are available. They could also attain greater heights and compete with others in every sector of the economy.”

    Citing the skills acquisition centres in Agadagba, Ondo State, Gelegele in Edo State and Kiaima, Bayelsa State, as parts of efforts develop the former agitators for the challenges ahead, the special adviser said that his mission is to site vocational centres in every state in the Niger Delta.

    He informed that the Amnesty Office has entered into partnership with some institutions, including the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI); Petroleum Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State and a Greek fishing firm to get the trainees certificated after their programmes.

    He said: “Actions will be taken; trainings will be done, and empowerment will be done immediately after. You don’t have to wait for years or wait to be trained and trained before you get your empowerment. So that is why I have called you today; that the Amnesty Office is ready to move forward.

    “We will be forming synergies with private and government institutions. Recently we sent names to the Nigerian Navy, so that they can employ people from the Niger Delta. We have sent names to the police, so they can be employed. These things we are doing so that people from the Niger Delta will stop depending on stipend.

    “Stipend does not develop a community. It only sustains the peace and not their future. What we want to do is to take people who have gotten jobs out of the stipends; make arrangements with multinational companies like Shell, Chevron and Mobil among others operating in the Niger Delta to work with us as part of their corporate social responsibility so that those who have been trained can also be given jobs.

    “Job placement is the next stage of my plans for the next year and I believe that if we can achieve that, we are going to do well. The people of the Niger Delta will not cry their old cries again that they have been marginalised.

    “The amount of money government has spent on this programme is a lot and I know that if we judiciously expend it, most people from the Niger Delta will benefit immensely. I want this programme to be a success, if not, our children yet unborn will keep asking us what we did for them if we say we have fought for Niger Delta.

    “This tale about being deprived should not be something we should keep saying. We have been given access. No part of Nigeria has more agencies than the Niger Delta. Now that we have these things, I will implore the people of Niger Delta to know that the sky is their beginning if they will work when they are given a job. Job placement is now the motto of the Amnesty Office and at the end, we will leave beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme gainfully employed and be made employable so that we can also know that we have done something for our people.

    “We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with to the NBTI so that our people will not just be trained by certain individuals, they will also be certificated by a known body and with their certificates they can used to secure jobs.

    “I have always said that the government can create the enabling environment for individuals to take the initiative of employing other citizens. That is what I want to do. I told you about the Greek fishing company that will train 2,500 of our delegates and they are going to employ 2000 of them. We are making strides in the right direction; so it is not just training for training sake; it is training to get a job.”

    On the challenges being faced and the way out, Dokubo said it has been herculean discouraging beneficiaries of the monthly stipend that they would be better as employees in other organisations.

    He identified the fear of earning a monthly wage that is below the 65, 000 they get from the amnesty scheme as a major challenge.

    Dokubo said: “On being absorbed into work after training, some graduates are being paid N40, 000, but if you give our people a job for N40, 000, they think about the stipends that they are earning. So, that is the challenge I am having. How can we appease their minds? Convince them that you can’t work endlessly, but you will grow with the work, it is not about the immediate gratification you want.

    “If your mind is so dependent on that stipend, it becomes difficult. So, that is the challenge, how do we reduce the dependence in the people that we are training. How do we also make them realise that employment is not only by government and private institutions; that they can also do something for themselves and also employ other people in the process?

    “And on that, my office is ready to give anybody who is ready to set up a business the necessary financial assistance because we cannot continue to have a long list of people depending on stipend. The stipend culture should be removed from our programme.

    Looking at the region where we are coming, the major sector for job is the oil industry. That is why the Agadagba Training Centre is there for middle and lower level oil and gas manpower to be absorbed by the companies. Also, Nigeria is no longer an oil producing country; it’s more of a gas producing country. So, these are the areas that we want them to be employed and if they grow with these new companies, I know that in 10 years to come, they will be highly rated in the industry and could also set up their own in most cases and run it.”

    The professor, who was appointed special adviser a year ago, spoke of his plan for the office.

    “What I want to do is to make sure that those that are trained must have jobs to go back to. Ordinary training is not my aim, and even for those who have been trained but have no jobs, they can be retrained for the right job in this technological environment.

    “That is what I’ll be remembered for; we are changing the dependence on stipends and training those who will work and earn money and that is why a vocational training centre in all states of the Niger Delta will be established. After that, we can go back and sleep with two eyes closed.”

  • Amnesty programme: 365 days of Dokubo’s restoration mission

    Madam Ekioukere Foster hails from Bayelsa State but resident in Bomadi, headquarters of Bomadi Local Government of Delta State. A few weeks ago, she was among thousands of beneficiaries of starter packs distributed by the Presidential Amnesty Programme to empower residents of communities impacted during the Niger Delta crises. Since luck visited her through the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, the 57-year-old woman has been consumed by joy and a burning zeal for a new life fired by hope.

    Ekioukere shares same fate with several Niger Deltans including the aged, youth, men and women. While beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme are savouring a new dawn, residents of communities in the Niger Delta region have also invested a balloon of hope in the Programme propelled by Prof. Dokubo’s passion for work and commitment. And they hold belief that their optimism is not misplaced.

    Today, (Wednesday) March 13, marks Dokubo’s one year in office, a period characterized by fresh initiatives and events that has put smiles on the faces of not only beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme, but on their parents, brothers and sisters. For close watchers of activities at the Amnesty Office, that the Abonnema, Rivers State-born erudite professor of international repute and nuclear scientist recorded tremendous achievements within a period of one year was not surprising as he set out to pilot the Amnesty Programme on full throttle.

    Angel of peace

    On assumption of office in March 2018, Dokubo engaged critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta in consultative meetings geared towards deepening peace in the volatile region. Apart from key leaders of ex-agitators, he also met severally Niger Delta elders, elders and stakeholders in Lagos. Among critical stakeholders who attended some of the meetings were Chief Bibopre Ajube, aka General Shoot-at-Sight; Dr. Ebikabowei Victor Ben, alias Boyloaf, and a representative HRH Ateke Tom. Representatives of other frontline leaders of ex-agitators in the Niger Delta including Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo, also attended.

    On June 7, 2018, he met with over 30 Phase One leaders of Niger Delta ex-agitators at the Abuja Sheraton Hotels and Towers in furtherance of his peace efforts, and parleyed 70 Phase Two and Three leaders the next day at same venue. He had earlier hosted the leadership of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), and visited a former Federal Commissioner for Information and respected Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, in his determination to deepen peace in the Niger Delta.

    A New Dawn

    As a first step after mounting the saddle, Dokubo constituted a committee headed by a university teacher, Prof. Ayibaemi Spiff, to review operations of the Amnesty Programme. Part of the findings of the committee was that while the Amnesty Office had undertaken the construction of five Vocational Training/Reintegration Centres across states in the Niger Delta, however, even when two of the centres (in Ondo and Bayelsa States) were near  completion, had been activated for the training of thousands of persons enrolled on the Programme that are yet to be skilled due to the failure of the Amnesty Office to pay in full the contract sums, lack of proper supervision and demand for variation by some of the contractors.

    Interestingly, of the 30,000 persons enlisted in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, 11,297 persons are yet to be placed in either vocational training facilities or deployed for formal education as of when Dokubo assumed office.

    But he has completed, equipped and activated the Oil and Gas Vocational Training Centre at Agadagba-Obon, Ondo State, and also commissioned the Basic Skills Vocational Training Centre at Boro Town, Bayelsa State. To fast track the training of the several beneficiaries awaiting skills acquisition, Prof. Dokubo performed a foundation laying ceremony for an Agricultural Vocational Training Centre in Gelegele, Edo State on Friday, February 15, just as he has intensified efforts to complete a Power and Energy Vocational Training Centre located at Bomadi, Delta State, and the Maritime Vocational Training Centre at Oboama, Rivers State. So far, a total of 1, 401 beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme have been trained in various skills between March 13, 2018 when he assumed office to date.

    Cognizant of the fact that the success of the Reintegration component of the Amnesty Programme depended largely on the Re-insertion part of it which entails aiding processes of returning already trained ex-agitators to civil society, Dokubo has taken bold steps on empowerment, through the provision of start-up packs and mentoring for several already trained and qualified ex-agitators to become entrepreneurs. In this regard, 1,165 already trained beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme were empowered in various trade areas within his one year in office.

    In the area of education, 1,230 beneficiaries of the Programme were offered scholarship and deployed in 11 partnering institutions within the country between January 30 and 31, 2019, while about 35 are set to be deployed to various institutions offshore.  207 students spread across 66 institutions in 20 countries are currently studying various courses. On Thursday, July 19, 2018, he visited students sponsored by the Amnesty Programme in London and met with 47 students and recent graduates from 25 institutions in the UK at the Nigeria High Commission. The objective of the visit was to enable him evaluate the students’ academic progress, celebrate those completing their programmes and charge the remaining ones to be good ambassadors of the Programme.

    Determined to facilitate job placement for beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme, Prof. Dokubo created a Job Placement and International Development Partners Engagement Unit (JPIDPEU) on May 2, 2018. So far, the unit has profiled 28 delegates for underwater welding jobs in oil servicing companies; 100 delegates for civil service jobs and 10 delegates for aviation crop spray pilot jobs. It has also concluded profiling of 25 delegates for catering services, hotel and fast food jobs and 75 delegates for other job opportunities. This is just the beginning of an action plan of the Post Training Engagement and Job Placement units of the Amnesty Office for the next two years. Besides, a DFID funded project –to MADE (Market Development in the Niger Delta), is sponsoring a training for trainers programme for 20 delegates of the Amnesty Programme in Agricultural Extension.

    Recently, the Director General National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Moji Adeyeye granted approval for the Amnesty Programme to use 23 Technology Incubation centres allocated to the office by National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) for cluster manufacturing by beneficiaries of the Programme. The centres would be used by delegates to produce their products for the purpose of obtaining NAFDAC Registration numbers. The delegates have been trained on production of rice, garri, plantain-flour, plantain-chips, chinchin, smoked fish, chicken, snail and fruit juice production, among others.

    On his path to charting a new course for the Amnesty Programme, Dokubo has surmounted several obstacles by sheer determination. And the tonic required to motive him is the support and encouragement from critical stakeholders and other quarters which he doesn’t lack. For Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Senator Peter Nwabushi who spoke at the commissioning of the Oil and Gas Basic Skills Vocational Training Centre, Agadagba-Obon, Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, Dokubo deserve commendation for his prudent management of funds allocated to the Amnesty Programme and his transparency.

    “The Presidential Amnesty Programme which was established in the year 2009 has had four chief executives as Special Advisers/Coordinators. Of all the four, I can confidently say that the present Coordinator has been very proactive and eager to realize the mandate of the Programme…In his short time in office, he has really demonstrated capacity to transform the Niger Delta region for sustainable development. Our committee is very pleased with his efforts; he is a square peg in a square hole”.

    While the Director of Research at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State, Prof.  Habu Galadima says Dokubo has provided the needed strategic leadership towards actualizing the objectives of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, the ruling All Progressive Party (APC) gave him kudos for deepening peace and stabilizing the Niger Delta. In a letter of commendation signed by its national secretary, Mai Mala Buni, the APC applauded Dokubo’s efforts at ensuring development in the oil-rich region. It said the positive transformation of the Presidential Amnesty Programme was in line with the Change Agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    But for Dokubo, the glory goes to the Almighty God and to President Buhari who has been a pillar of support for the people of Niger Delta. ”Let me place on record that we are able to achieve all these because of the staunch and unalloyed support President Muhammadu Buhari has been giving the Amnesty Programme and the Niger Delta as a whole. On his fatherly watch, we have since re-worked the Programme to focus on not just training but also job creation and empowerment of already trained beneficiaries. I can confirm to all stakeholders gathered here today that President Buhari loves the Niger Delta and its people”, he assured.

     

    • Ganagana is Special Assistant (Media) to Prof. Dokubo

     

  • Amnesty programme lifts Niger Delta communities

    People from crisis-prone communities in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Cross Rivers, Imo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Abia States have benefitted from an empowerment scheme of the Presidential Amnesty Office.

    No fewer than 177 persons received items such as welding equipment, tailoring, catering, deep freezers, and generators.

    Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, who flagged off the programme yesterday in Abonnema, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, said the gesture was a show of President Muhammadu Buhari’s love for the people of the oil-rich region.

    He said: “Having served in Port Harcourt, in the course of his military career, President Buhari is conversant with the unpleasant situation of the Niger Delta people, and he is committed to turning around the narrative. President Buhari loves you, and will ensure that the Niger Delta is stabilised and gets its right place in the country, especially in terms of infrastructural development.

    “The fact that he sustained the Amnesty Programme despite intense pressure from some quarters is an evidence of his love for the people, and I urge you to vote for him again so he can do more for our people.”

    Dokubo warned beneficiaries against selling the items, but to make judicious use of them to eke a living. “This is a special empowerment for people who are not among the 30,000 beneficiaries captured in the Presidential Amnesty Programme; it is meant for people in crises-impacted communities in the Niger Delta. It is to demonstrate that the Amnesty Programme is for all the people of Niger Delta, and we care for you,” he added.

    Community leader of Ogbeinbin, Warri North council of Delta State, Chief Solomon Ogumogu hailed Dokubo for the initiative.

    He said: “We are very happy for what is happening today and what we are seeing physically right here. Since the beginning of the Amnesty Programme in 2009, we have never experienced anything like this because the Amnesty Programme was targeted at those involved in armed struggle, those who carried arms, fighting for their freedom, but majority of communities had been neglected.

    “No coordinator of Amnesty Programme had ever remembered people who didn’t carry arms, but today, we are thanking Prof. Charles Dokubo for remembering communities affected while the militancy lasted. By giving us items today, we are so happy and we also thank President Buhari for appointing a visionary leader like Prof. Charles Dokubo.”

  • Senators, Reps laud Dokubo for Presidential Amnesty Programme

    he Senate and House of Representatives have lauded the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, for his achievements with the amnesty programme.

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Peter Nwabushi, pledged more support from the Senate to uplift the Programme to greater heights.

    Nwabuchi, who spoke at the opening of the Oil and Gas Basic Skills Vocational Training Centre in Agadagba-Obon, Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, praised Dokubo for his prudent management of funds and transparency.

    The senator, who was represented by his deputy, Senator Baba Kaka Bashiru, said: “The Presidential Amnesty Programme, which was established in 2009, has had four chief executives as Special Advisers/Coordinators. Of all the four, I can confidently say that the present coordinator has been very proactive and eager to realise the mandate of the Programme. By this, I mean he always consulted with the National Assembly in initiating activities that will move the organisation forward.

    “In his short time in office, he has demonstrated capacity to transform the Niger Delta for sustainable development. Our committee is pleased with his efforts; he is a square peg in a square hole.

    “The Coordinator has demonstrated that he has nothing to hide by always seeking to synergise with the National Assembly and stakeholders to achieve set objectives. Last year, the committee recommended N65 billion which was passed in the appropriation bill. When we visited his office, he presented a report which encapsulated so many reports of what he has achieved in the Niger Delta.

    “We are very proud of him, and this year, our committee will do more to improve on the achievements of the agency. It is in consideration of his good work that we are here to grace this occasion. No doubt, the vocational training centre will impact positively on this community, the local government, this state; the Niger Delta and the country.”

    Istiphanus Gyang, who spoke on behalf of members of the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta, noted that the Amnesty Programme was designed to train and empower youths in the oil-rich region. He said the vocational training centre will engage some beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme in the oil industry.

    “We, at the National Assembly, have supported the initiative with appropriation and funding. We are, therefore, glad today that the sound we created is attracting the needed value as we have seen in this place.”