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Tag: amnesty programme

  • Presidency releases additional N35bn for amnesty programme

    The Presidency has released additional N35bn to step up the Amnesty Programme for ex-militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

    The additional fund is said to be in sustenance of the new understanding between the Federal Government and the oil-producing communities of the Niger Delta.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity,LaoluAkande, disclosed this in a statement yesterday.

    Akande said although the federal government approved N20bn allocation for the programme in the 2016 budget, President Muhammadu Buhari has raised the funds to N55bn with a recent release of additional N30bn.

    He assured that there is also a planned release of another N5bn later.

    According to him, the Amnesty Office has now paid up all ex-militants backlog of their stipends up to the end of 2016.

    Akande explained further: “The release of the additional funds is coming after presidential level interactive engagements in the Niger Delta, where the Buhari administration has enunciated a New Vision for the oil-producing areas based on the presentation made by the Pan Niger Delta Forum to the President when he received leaders and stakeholders from the region last November.

    “Subsequently, the President asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to embark on a tour of the region that saw him visiting several oil-producing states in the country.

    “Besides the monthly payment of about N65, 000 to N66,000 to the ex-militants, the funds would also go to the provision of reintegration activities under the Amnesty Programme including payment of tuition for beneficiaries from Niger Delta who are in post-secondary institutions at home and abroad, payment of in-training and hazard allowances and vocational training costs.”

  • Ex-militants protest non-payment of allowances, school fees

    Ex-militants protest non-payment of allowances, school fees

    The ex-Niger Delta militants studying in Benson Idahosa University (BIU) under the federal government amnesty programme has protested against the non-payment of their tuition fees, areas and monthly stipends for the last seven months.

    The students, who gave the federal government 72-hour ultimatum to address the issue converged Monday at the Edo state secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to express their grievances.

    One of the protesters, Destiny Pereware who lamented the students suffering as a result of the non-payment of the allowances called on President Muhammed Buhari to come to their aid and increase fund for the programme.

    “We have been suffering, starving and being in hunger for the past seven months. We have come to tell the world that the amnesty students of the Benson Idahosa University have not been paid for seven months. That our monthly allowances and tuition fees should be paid. We don’t want to go back to our old ways. We have renounced crimes, we have renounced hostilities, we are peace-loving Niger Deltans, and we are non-violent advocates.

    “So we want you to tell the world that we are suffering and President Muhammed Buhari should ensure that the amnesty programme is well funded and our money should be paid to us.  That is why we have come to the NUJ to pass this message across to the world”, he said.

    Another protester, Igboga Izaic 400-level Department of Mass communication, Benson Idahosa University demanded for a reason for the delay of the payments.

    He said: “Initially when we heard students from other schools had been paid, we called the Special Assistant to the President on Amnesty, and he told us to disregard the information that it is not true, but we later found out that the information is true because they have paid ex-militants in other schools while the ex-militants at Benson Idahosa university are not paid.

    “So we want them to give us the reason why we have not been paid if other schools have been paid. If we don’t get this issue addressed within 72 hours, we don’t want to go back to our old ways, and when we say old ways, they understand what we mean by that.”

     

  • Pains, gains of Amnesty Programme

    Pains, gains of Amnesty Programme

    The Presidential Amnesty Programme has had its best experiences in the last 12 months, but it has also had its greatest challenges within the same period. These were trying times both for the office and Amnesty beneficiaries, as we had to contend with achieving much with little resources.

    Perhaps our greatest achievement is contributing to the maintenance of peace in the Niger Delta, which has resulted in zero vandalism of oil facilities. The winning strategy is President Buhari’s hands-on approach to the region. The visits of the Vice-President which have taken him to oil-producing states with the full participation of the state governments and people, is a winning formula which has solidified the relationship between the region and the administration.

    Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s visits are deepening and consolidating the bond between the people and the Buhari administration; a partnership that opens wide, the road to sustainable peace and development of the Niger Delta. Secondly, they revealed the government’s vision of transforming the oil communities into hubs for refining petrochemicals and related activities, which will not only create mass employment and make the country self-sufficient in petroleum products, but will also save the country the huge foreign exchange expended in importation of such products. The government’s agenda to build modular refineries would be a big leap forward as it will in addition, check the rash of illegal refineries that are further destroying the environment and damaging the health of the people in the region.

    The visits also revealed the initiative of a 40-point agenda for the Niger Delta by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and oil companies. In my view, leaders, youths and traditional rulers in the region should key into this effort in the overall interest of the people.

    Apart from the funds it is committing to the Niger Delta, the Federal Government’s initiative in securing over $1billion from the Shell Petroleum Development Company to provide drinking water and provide health services in the Niger Delta, is salutary. Generally, the trans-national oil companies should follow in the Federal Government’s footsteps by partnering the region and contributing towards its development.

    They should take advantage of the window of opportunity opened by the Federal Government’s commendable move in bridging the communication gap between the oil companies and Bayelsa State.

    It is advisable that oil companies expand such cooperation to other oil producing states to guarantee peace, oil their business interests and ensure the needed development in the region.

    The government’s policy – as demonstrated by the visits – of reaching out to the Niger Delta people, listening to their complaints and taking steps to address their concerns, is primarily responsible for the peace being witnessed today in the area and the stop in vandalism of oil facilities. We have to build on this win-win foundation to build the human and infrastructural development of the Niger Delta.

    We have no time to waste because the odds are not in our favour. We must be aware that oil is a wasting asset; it will eventually dry up and that more oil is being discovered in other parts of the world. These, along with fracking, will lead to oil glut. All these, with the polluted environment of the region, have serious consequences for the future of the Niger Delta.

    In the  2015/2016 Academic Year, the Presidential Amnesty Office deployed  1,294 delegates in  various universities in the country,  recording 681 graduates with 14 of them graduating First Class, and 84 Second Class Upper. In fact, the Benson Idahosa University retained as lecturers, four of our students who had First Class.

    The performance of our students abroad was even more stunning. A total of 454 of them graduated mainly from British universities with 20 graduating First Class and 41, Second Class Upper. Also, we have ensured the effective management of our students abroad through the collaboration of the Amnesty Office and our embassies and high commissions. This has led to remarkable reduction in our student agitations.

    Also, from 2015 to 2016, we deployed 1,603 delegates in training centres in the country, we graduated 1,230 of them. A total 196 delegates are currently in training, but regrettably, the training of 177 of them is on hold due to logistical reasons.

    In the same period, the Amnesty Office empowered 1,453 delegates with various starter-packs, including shop rentals, while 966 of them were taken through refresher training. A survey by the Monitoring and Evaluation Team observed that those we empowered made profits, which means that their businesses like trees planted by the river side, have survived and are sprouting. No mean achievement under our skies.

    The Presidential Amnesty Programme has not only succeeded in helping to stabilise the Niger Delta,  but has also worked in synergy with all government agencies, including the NDDC, Local Content Board, NIMASA, NNPC and ministries, such as those of Niger Delta Affairs, Agriculture and Environment.

    We have also domesticated most of our education and training programmes in order to ensure sustainability, development of local organisations and conservation of funds, including foreign exchange.

    Perhaps the greatest impact we have created in the last one year is the reorientation of beneficiaries to agriculture and aquaculture as an alternative to revamp the ailing economy. Presently, we have youths undergoing advanced agriculture technological training in these fields, while various state governments in the region have made lands available to us for extensive farming, or have promised to do so. Our Model Farming Initiative designed to provide 5,000 sustainable jobs in the region, keys into Mr. President’s   programme of creating employment and wealth through farming as well as ensuring food security in the country.

    The main challenge the Presidential Amnesty Office has faced is inadequate funds. Due to this, tuition fees of some students both in local and international universities have not been paid. These are mainly in the UK, USA, Philippines, Belarus and South Africa.

    Also, training in most of the vocation centres has stopped affecting 1,770 delegates. This has led to the swell in the number of those projected to be trained in 2017, which were 4,770 persons.

    Inadequate funding has also limited the capacity of the Office to empower delegates and exit them from the programme.

    The liabilities of the Presidential Amnesty Programme include for Vocational Training, Post Training/Empowerment, Offshore and Onshore Education. Others are for stipends, operations and Town Hall meetings. However, our dire situation is being reversed with the release of more funds to the Office.

    The Presidential Amnesty Office is immensely grateful to the President for not only sustaining the programme and giving it priority, but also for his practical and demonstrable commitment to the Niger Delta. We are also grateful to the government and people of the oil producing states for their patience and support for the Federal Government and the initiatives it is taking, and also for maintaining the peace.

    Equally, we are grateful to the beneficiaries and workers of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, who have endured through the challenges; the worse is over, and together, we shall work towards sustained peace and the development of the region. Also, our thanks to our sister agencies, and our local and international development partners for the unquantifiable support.

    Finally, our gratitude to Nigerians for their understanding and support. We pledge our continued loyalty to the dynamic and result-oriented administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, and to you all.

     

    • Brig-Gen. Boroh (retd) is Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

  • Funding the amnesty programme

    The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) was formally set up on June 15, 2009, by the then President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He decided to take the bull by the horns after the years of indecision and foot-dragging by the Obasanjo administration, which had won notoriety for the way it treated the Odi people in Bayelsa State and the Zaki Biam community in Benue State, with unprecedented strong-arm tactics and bestial vehemence.
    Due to the novelty and unprecedented nature of this stratagem that the federal government was introducing to solve a nagging violent confrontation with the various groups of militants purportedly fighting on behalf of the larger Niger Delta common-wealth, many people expressed scepticism about the sincerity of the federal government in introducing the amnesty deal. As the case was, the Doubting Thomases did not only beam their searchlight on the perceived insincerity of the Yar’Adua administration, they also placed little premium on the reliability of the die-hard militants abandoning their safe havens in the impenetrable creeks of the Niger Delta, surrender their sophisticated weapons and embrace a set up that may, on the long run, prove to be a large-scale ambush.
    Having experienced the unfulfilled promises and engagements of the outgone Obasanjo administration, many observers took the initiation of the amnesty programme with a pinch of salt and adopted a “siddon look” attitude to the novel intervention, at the embryonic stage.
    These dark clouds of doubts appeared in the horizon due to the half-hearted implementation of the interventionist Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the Niger Delta Development Commission, which many believed were not fully energised or adequately funded to perform the roles they were meant to play. Others were of the belief that the institution of these agencies of government amounted to a glaring duplication of efforts and hence a waste of scarce funds which never impacted on the larger mass of the Niger Delta people.
    It is no gainsaying the fact that the coming on stream of the Presidential Amnesty Programme greatly reduced the uncertainty and danger in doing business in the Niger Delta, which hosts the oil and gas exploration and exploitation on which the Nigerian nation depends for its economic survival. Comparatively, whereas in the 2006/2008 period, a maximum of 800,000 barrels per day production was attainable because of the strident dangerous environment in which the multi-national petroleum companies were working in the militants-infested creeks, the figure rose to a peak of 2.3 million barrels per day after the setting up of the amnesty programme. This increment of 1.5million barrels per day brought the nation’s oil and gas daily revenue to $120.45m.
    In spite of the direct consequence of the new conducive environment in the creek that commensurably increased the nation’s revenue earnings, there was the largely-held view (which persists to this day) that the funds allocated for the amnesty programme annually is mainly used to offset the monthly stipends of the ex-militants whose number runs into almost 30,000 persons. Not many are aware that the programme is more than a veritable social welfare scheme designed to sate the anger of militant warlords and their foot soldiers
    The programme was designed, partly, as a holistic package of human capital development modem to train the teeming but unemployed restive youth and to tap their latent energy and employ it for avenues of human endeavours.
    At inception, the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) was divided into three segments viz: Disarmament, Demobilisation and Re-integration (DDR), which were implemented sequentially with the ongoing reintegration of the disarmed and demobilised militants into the larger society so that they can participate fully and actively in the economy and consequently eke out a living.
    It is gratifying to note that that the federal government has earmarked the sum of N65bn in the 2017 budget for the re-integration of the transformed ex-militants under the amnesty programme. Though it is not true that the Buhari administration has set aside the sum of N29bn to tackle the resurgent militancy in the region, it is pertinent to say that the federal government should increase the allocation to the amnesty programme which has, to a large extent, curtailed militancy and pipeline vandalism in the hitherto volatile Niger Delta region. With the emerging scenario of some ex-militants who were not captured in the first phase of the programme and the rising cost of training those in institutions of learning here and abroad, there cannot be a more appropriate time for the operational allocation to the Presidential Amnesty Programme, to be increased to meet the exigencies of the current dire economic situation in the country.
    As a further mark of government’s sincerity and commitment to the implementation of the tenets of the programme, it directed that the monthly stipend due to all the ex-militants be paid directly to them in order to eliminate diversion and misappropriation, as was the case in the past. In addition to the monthly stipend, the eligible ex-militants were also entitled to the human capital development segment of the PAP, which has, undoubtedly, created a new cadre of Niger Deltans who will drive the economy of the region and engender better living conditions and standard among the people which has worsened since oil was discovered in Oloibiri on January 15, 1956.
    This cadre of ex-militants were enrolled in many schools and institutes in Nigeria and abroad i.e. Russia, United States of America, United Kingdom, Malaysia, South Africa etc., to learn some technical trades, acquire vocational skills and liberal education that will be useful in the general uplift of the people of the region and even beyond. These includes welding, fitting, diving etc. while some others with basic educational qualifications were trained (or undergoing studies) as marine engineers, welders, flight attendants, divers, pilots etc. By this, it has become evident that the Niger Delta has begun to earn due respect and accolades for academic brilliance and technical know-how, rather than notoriety for pipeline vandalism, bunkering and kidnapping of foreigners and other acts of economic sabotage which impacted negatively on the nation’s economy.
    It is gratifying to point out that many ex-militants such as Nicholas Goodness, Lucky Azibanegein and Terubein Fawei, among others have made Nigeria proud in Public Relations, Network Engineering and Telecommunication, in the United Kingdom by coming out in the First Class Honours grade while other made the second class honours grade in Robotic System and Mechanical Engineering.
    The fact that they were capable of noble endeavours helped to establish the vision and positive nationalism of late President Umaru Yar’Adua who set up the Presidential Amnesty Programme in the first instance.
    The commitment and roadmap of the present administration to increase the budgetary allocation to oil the greater responsibilities being borne by the Presidential Amnesty Programme is, therefore laudable. But beyond the allocation of more funds to the PAP, the government should also focus on the total transformation of the Niger Delta to put an end to the perennial agitation of the people of the region.

    •Agho, a lawyer sent in the piece from Port Harcourt

  • FG urged to approve amnesty programme for militants

    FG urged to approve amnesty programme for militants

    The federal government has been urged to take necessary action to end the crisis rocking Niger Delta region by approving Amnesty program for the militants.
    In a statement by Ondo State Chapter of the Niger Delta Youth Militancy Vanguard signed by its President, General Akintoye Olatunji (Ebie) the group urged the federal government to urgently approve the Amnesty program without delay
    The group expressed its readiness to be of law abiding and ensure security Surveillance and protection of oil and gas infrastructure in each of their environment.
    “Ondo State is the most and only peaceful state in Niger Delta States. Ondo State has 220 Oil wells, six feet onshore and offshore.
    “Where the government missed everything before now was that, it was the youths destroying properties that met the government, and the previous Amnesty program for the Niger Delta Militants was not extended to all the youths in the nine States, especially Ondo State.
    “The government who should have made the leadership of the youths as security of the properties and listen to their worries was instead politicizsing the region and making wrong selection. Now we are happy to inform the federal government that they have realized their inability to fix capabilities to where capabilities are.
    ” We appeal to the government to fast track the Amnesty program in the Niger Delta States in order to curb the youths,” Akintoye Olatunji said.

  • ‘Pay us N500m for initiating amnesty programme’

    A group in Niger Delta is demanding N500million from the Federal Government as compensation for initiating the amnesty programme.

    It also demanded national honour for designing the programme, which according to it, curbed militants’ activities.

    The group, comprising human rights lawyers, spoke under the umbrella of Great Izon Youth Coalition (GIYC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.

    It said 10 years after initiating the programme, the Federal Government did not compensate it.

    The President,  Ayebapreye Iyoro, claimed the programme being implemented today by the Federal Government was their brainchild.

    He said: “We developed the concept and offered it to the Federal Government for implementation on condition that members would be partners in the implementation.”

    Iyoro regretted the programme’s originators were sidelined and shortchanged.

    He said the coalition designed it in 2006 during ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure and urged the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to act or face legal action.

  • Funding the amnesty programme

    Funding the amnesty programme

    On Thursday, last week, leaders of the Niger Delta met at Kiagbodo, hometown of Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin K. Clark in Delta State to reflect on recent developments. Rising from the meeting, the leaders warned the presidency to show more concern towards the growing impatience, occasioned in Nigeria’s crude oil belt, by the delay in the proposed dialogue between government and regional stakeholders, aimed at bringing lasting peace to the troubled region. The delay by the federal government in firming up a peace deal with the stakeholders, the leaders said, could reverse the gains of the current ceasefire, which could jeopardise the oil sector and dim the hope of the nation’s recovery from its current recession since the economy is oil-dependent.
    However, while the meeting was holding in Kiagbodo, the government made good its promise to pay the stipends promised to the Niger Delta militants under the amnesty programme. Though only the first batch of beneficiaries were paid their August and September stipends, plans are said to be underway to complete the payment for the second and third batch of militants under the programme. This is a commendable development. It must be understood by all stakeholders that human capital development is the enduring fulcrum on which meaningful progress revolves. This empowerment tool is at the heart of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, which has, since 2009 been enabling erstwhile militants to acquire specialised education in many institutions across the world.
    The amnesty programme was conceptualised to embody a social agenda that will underpin the health, education, employment, sense of fulfilment and the general well-being of all the people of the Niger Delta region either directly or indirectly. Through the programme, the pervading atmosphere and culture of gross neglect and general malaise is expected to give way to that of fulfilment, contentment, peace and people-centered development and commensurate progress.
    On the whole, the government was expected to recognise the inviolability of an existing social contract between it and the people’s rights, responsibilities and with promises to deliver the basic necessities as a pre-requisite for decent human existence. These needs include; food, clothing, shelter, basic education, primary healthcare, security, productive assets, etc, which are mainly provided in the breach despite a rich endowment of natural and human resources in the Niger Delta region.
    In spite of the huge revenue from the exploration and exploitation of crude oil and gas which are found in abundance in the bowels of the Niger Delta region, it is quite appalling that the travails of existence in that region have assumed gargantuan proportion. This is the paradox. This paradox has been underlined by the Oil/Primordial Curse Syndrome which many pundits believe is really the bane of the abject living conditions in the Niger Delta and the virtually unending violence or near-chaos in the areas of oil and gas production.
    The dynamics and the increasing incidence of poverty and want in Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta, have stratified and polarised the society into opposing camps of haves and have-nots; educated and uneducated; north and south etc. The resulting tensions and other social conflicts is eroding the fabric that has held the society together over the decades. Therefore, it is very important to state that the challenge is not only to institute reformative measures to jumpstart and boost the nation’s economic growth alone, but also, there is the need to empower the people of the Niger Delta as a means of revitalising their living standard and rekindling their faith in government and governance.
    It is in fulfilment of the government’s social contract with the people of the Niger Delta region that the amnesty programme becomes one of the veritable means to redress the retrogressive legacies of the past. It must be noted that the programme is not an end in itself or solely designed to financially-empower the core leaders of the various militant groups dotting the creeks of the Niger Delta or their sorely aggrieved foot-soldiers. Rather, the prime intention of the programme is to completely rehabilitate the more than 30 thousand-rich corps of repentant militants who have taken advantage of the new vista created by the amnesty programme.
    In empowering the ex-militants through sponsored training and education in selected schools and technical centres at home and abroad, the programme has contributed, in no small measure, to strengthening the Niger Delta, nay Nigeria’s technological and scientific base through the training of the ex-militants in technical, vocational, liberal and entrepreneurial education to meet the region’s manpower needs.
    A veritable testimonial in reference to the contribution of the PAP to the human capital development of the Niger Delta region is the recent graduation of 51 ex-militants from Novena University, Ogume, in Delta State, with seven beneficiaries graduating in the second-class upper division. Two out of the seven were in Intelligence and Security Studies; two in Political Science and one student each in Energy and Petroleum Studies; Accounting and Computer Science. Thirty-one of this set had second class lower division, 10 with third class while one had a pass degree. Many more are still in schools across the globe.
    As in all human endeavours, it has not been smooth-sailing in some crucial aspects of the programme. There are reported cases where many ex-militants were not paid their stipends for months on end. It is gratifying to note that under the new leadership of the programme, safer and more accountable measures are being put in place. It is also commendable that adequate monitoring and control precautions are now in place to plot the trajectory of the funds released while making sure that they are properly and adequately expended in the true spirit of the programme.
    As Nigeria enters the eighth year of the PAP, there are indications that it may be wound up this year, 2017. But there are also signs and palpable presidential body-language that it may either be reviewed with more ex-militants being inducted into the scheme as a precautionary measure against the simmering unease degenerating into a full-scale war or confrontation. It will be seriously out of point for hundreds of the PAP scholarship beneficiaries to be abandoned mid-stream in their current institutions of studies here and abroad, without a clear-cut and painless exit strategy in place.
    It is also imperative that additional funding should be injected into the programme as a prime factor that will drive the key area of human capital development, which is multi-dimensional in scope. This core aspect of the PAP involves; educational advancement across all the strata of the society, capacity building of the active workforce through training and retraining; individual-based micro-business support programmes, self-employment, job creation and empowerment scheme.
    The amnesty programme needs more funding at this point in time, more than ever before as more emphasis and premium is being placed on creating a well-educated and trained cadre of ex-militants who are proficient in their various disciplines. It is through the infusion of adequate funds that those training centres which are presently short of acceptable standards in equipment and other facilities as well as personnel, would be adequately revamped.
    As a matter of policy, the limited employment opportunities open to the beneficiaries of the diverse human capital development schemes of the programme, should be bridged through the provision of attractive starter-packs inclusive of soft loans (or given gratis) and technical advice on self-employment etc, which will, in turn, create employment windows within the region.
    It is therefore, a good thing that the current Senate has bought into this thought pattern and is ready to liaise with the Presidency to actualise it. Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, has been rather explicit and frank about the need to shore up the financial base of the amnesty programme to guarantee peace and harmony in the Niger Delta and enhance the exploitation of crude oil deposits and gas reserves in the region for the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians.

  • Group faults Niger Delta leaders’ 16-point demand

    Group faults Niger Delta leaders’ 16-point demand

     

    Niger Delta Youth Association (NDYA), has faulted the 16-point demand handed to President Muhammadu Buhari by leaders of Niger Delta, known as ‘Pan-Niger Delta Forum, (PNDEF) on the way forward in resolving the crisis in the oil -rich region.

    This was contained in a seven-point communiqué issued in Akwa Ibom State after an emergency conference of the body during which it took a critical assessment of the ’16 Point Demand’ earlier presented to the Presidency.

    In the communiqué, the President, Comrade Victor James, Vice President, Comrade Ibiso Harry and other executives of NYDA, regretted that the leaders could not give priority to the Niger Delta Coastal Road Project which they said would improve the economic life of the people of the region.

    Harry who read the communiqué for the group also pointed out that the delegation ought to have expanded the request for the granting of oil and gas blocks to cover communities of the entire Niger Delta other than giving few individuals the blocks.

    The group while commending the contingent for their courage, tasked the presidency to ensure sincerity in dealing with the issues of Niger Delta.

    The communiqué read in part: “We endorsed some of the ’16 Points Demands’, ranging from the Maritime University at Okrenkoko in Delta State, to the restructuring of the Amnesty Programme, the opening up of Warri, Calabar and Port Harcourt Ports as international Ports, the cleaning up of the entire Niger Delta wherever pollution is found.

    “PNDEF should have made the ‘Niger Delta Coastal Road Project’ one of its basic demands and as clear as possible without ambiguity because it is strategically positioned along the region’s vast coastline and an economically viable project which will attract serious foreign investments to the Niger Delta in terms of real estate and tourism.

    “Some demands like the federal government’s granting of oil and gas blocks should rather be expanded to cover communities of the entire Niger Delta as simply giving a few individuals from the Niger Delta oil and gas blocks will not create the wealth need to move the region forward.

    “The reason is because our region is suffering from institutional and systemic poverty, therefore, clusters of communities within all ethnic nationalities should be granted oil and gas blocks as doing so will create wealth which the people are starved and which prevents the people from enhancing their potentials.

    “What the Niger Delta needs is sincerity from this present administration particularly when it cannot be argued that the current resurgence of violence and insurgency resulting in the bombing of oil and gas facilities is occasioned by the current administration’s approach to issues relating to the Niger Delta Region and Its People.”

  • Okowa, others decry exclusion from Amnesty programme

    Okowa, others decry exclusion from Amnesty programme

    • Communities, OICs disagree on $141m CSR

    Eminent Nigerians, including Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday criticised a bill seeking to provide a legal and institutional framework for the implementation and management of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

    The governor was expressing his opinion on the “Presidential Programme on Rehabilitation and Reintegration (Establishment and Implementation) Bill, 2016 in his submission before the Essien Ekpeyong Ayi-headed House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta.

    He said there was urgent need to restructure the programme.

    This was as communities in the Niger Delta insisted on getting two per cent of the annual budget of the international oil companies (IOCs) operating in their communities.

    The communities also called for the use of security votes to support youths “who surrendered their arms but were not captured in the Amnesty programme”.

    Most of the stakeholders at the event sought clarification on the supervisory role of the National Security Adviser (NSA) in the proposed Amnesty Bill.

    Okowa, whose submission was presented by Pascal Adigwe, said: “One of the things that need to be urgently looked at is the structure of the programme, which at the moment is solely run by the Federal Government. This needs to change. The state governments in the region need to be engaged as partners with the Federal Government.

    “This partnership should take the form of involvement of the states in the selection, training and empowerment, while the Federal Government takes charge of the funding.”

    The governor decried a situation whereby those captured in the programme were sent on study courses that have no bearing on local needs.

    He said: “I strongly recommend the model encapsulated in my administration’s S.M.A.R.T agenda where unemployed youths are trained in select disciplines relevant to local industries and the needs of the society.”

    In a presentation by its Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it would not support a collection of gifts and donations as part of the funding for the Amnesty programme to avoid conflict of interest.

    It said: “We recommend that loans, gifts and donations from individuals and private companies should be discouraged. Gifts of land from communities for field offices should also not be permissible. Other gifts and grants should only come from national, bilateral and multilateral agencies and the three tiers of government.”

    The chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), Clay Neff, rejected Section 15.2 (e) of the Amnesty Bill.

    He said: “OPTS’ 24 members operate approximately 90 per cent of Nigeria’s oil and gas production.

    “In 2015 alone, OPTS contribution amounted to over US$ 141 million in support of voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on infrastructure development, education and medical facilities to mention a few. As you’re aware, we also pay the required Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) levy.

    “Currently, government takes approximately 95 per cent of net revenues from joint venture oil production. This includes corporate taxes, production royalties, NNPC share of production and a plethora of taxes and levies to the Federal Government and its agencies.

    “It is our view that the additional obligations sought to be imposed by Clause 15.2(e) of the Amnesty Bill will increase the burden on industry – thereby weakening Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global oil and gas industry.”

    He submitted that section 15.2(e) should be deleted from the amnesty bill.

    But the communities faulted OPTS’ submission, especially its assertion that they had spent over $141 million on CSR.

    Prof. Jasper Jumbo, who spoke for the oil producing communities, said what the oil producers said they had done with such an amount was not visible to anyone.

    He said Security votes should go into programmes for other youths who surrendered arms and were not included in the amnesty and that the 5 percent of the Ecological Fund in the bill should be increased to 10 percent.

    The National Civil  Society Consultative Forum in Peace and Security represented by Jaiye Gaskiya proposed a clear exit date for the amnesty programme. And that peaceful communities should be identified and provided incentives under the programme to encourage other communities to remain peaceful.

    The Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, represented by deputy Minority leader, Chukwuka Onyeama, noted that the passage of the bill will end militancy,,pipeline vandalism and bring business back to the Niger Delta by increasing the crude oil production output.

     

     

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  • Governors decry exclusion from amnesty programme

    Governors decry exclusion from amnesty programme

    …Communities, OICs disagree on $141 million CSR
    A bill seeking to provide a legal and institutional framework for the implementation and management of the Presidential Amnesty Programme in Nigeria was Tuesday criticized by stakeholders.

    While giving his opinion on the “Presidential Programme on Rehabilitation and Reintegration (Establishment and implementation) Bill, 2016 Tuesday,  the Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa in his submission before the Essien Ekpeyong Ayi- headed House of Representatives committee on Niger  Delta Affairs said there is an urgent need to restructure the programme.

    This was as communities in the Niger Delta insisted on getting 2 percent of the annual budget of the international Oil Companies operating in their Communities. They also called for the use of security votes to support youths “who surrendered their arms but were not captured in the amnesty programe.

    Nearly all stakeholders at the event wanted a clarification on the supervisory role of the National Security Adviser in the proposed Amnesty Bill.

    Okowa in his submission presented by Pascal Adigwe said: ” One of the things that need to be urgently looked at is the structure of the programme, which at the moment is solely run by the federal government . This needs to change. The state governments in the region need to be engaged as partners with the federal government.

    “This partnership should take the form of involvement of the states in the selection, training and empowerment, while the federal government takes charge of the funding.”

    He decried a situation whereby those captured in the amnesty programme were sent to study courses that had no bearing on local needs.

    “I strongly recommend the model encapsulated in my administration’s S.M.A.R.T agenda where unemployed youths are trained in select disciplines relevant to local industries and the needs of the society,” he said.

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC in a presentation signed by its Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru said it would not support that collection of gifts and donations as parts of the funding for the amnesty programme to avoid conflict of interest.

    “We recommend that loans, gifts and donations from individuals and private companies should be discouraged. Gifts of land from Communities for field offices should also be permissible. Other gifts and grants should only come from national, bilateral and multilateral agencies and the three tiers of government.”

    The chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), Clay Neff, while giving their opinion on the bill rejected section. 15.2( e) of the Amnesty Bill.

    His words: “OPTS’ 24 members operate approximately 90 per cent of Nigeria’s oil and gas production.

    “In 2015 alone, OPTS contribution amounted to over US$ 141 million in support of voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives on infrastructure development , education, and medical facilities to mention a few. As you’re aware, we also pay the required Niger Delta Development Commission levy.

    “Currently, government takes approximately 95 percent of net revenues from joint Venture Oil production. This includes corporate taxes, production royalties, NNPC share of production and a plethora of taxes and levies to the Federal Government of Nigeria and its agencies.

    “It is our view that the additional obligations sought to be imposed by Clause 15.2(e) of the amnesty bill will increase the burden on industry- thereby weakening Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global oil and gas industry.”

    He therefore submitted that section 15.2(e) should be deleted from the amnesty bill.

    But the communities faulted OPTS’ submission especially its assertion that they had spend over $141 million on CSR.

    Prof. Jasper Jumbo who spoke for the oil producing communities said what the Oil producers said they have done with such an amount is not visible to anyone.

    He said Security votes should go into programmes for other youths who surrendered arms and were not included in the amnesty and that the 5 percent of the Ecological Fund in the bill should be increased to 10 percent.

    The National Civil Society Consultative Forum in Peace and Security represented by Jaiye Gaskiya proposed a clear exit date for the amnesty programme. And that peaceful communities should be identified and provided incentives under the programme to encourage other communities to remain peaceful.

    The Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, represented by deputy Minority leader, Chukwuka Onyeama, noted that the passage of the bill will end militancy,,pipeline vandalism and bring business back to the Niger Delta by increasing the crude oil production output.