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Tag: amnesty

  • How about tax amnesty?

    Innovation is driving revenue collection globally in the face of slow growth rate in trade and investment. More and more tax administrators are coming up with diverse products to raise government revenues to meet daunting challenges. In Nigeria and much of the frontier markets voluntary tax compliance is still a mirage and special efforts needs to be employed to curb it.

    Whereas in developed nations taxpayers remit voluntarily, allowing the tax administrators time and space to develop new tax types such as carbon tax, green gastax amongstothers, but one innovation that stands out from this pack, even in developed countries, remains tax amnesty. In Nigeria, amnesty as become a cliché, so to speak in view of the conflicts in the Niger Delta and the Northeast.

    Amnesty as we know, is a legal forgiveness from certain infractions. Tax amnesty is defined as a waiver or reduction and sometimes removal of penalties in back taxes to encourage defaulting taxpayers to pay what they owe within a specified window. Indeed like on criminal matters, majority of eligible taxpayers in Nigeria rarely remit their taxes and it is crucialwe find a common ground to achieve the objective of the government to raise funds from taxes through some ingenious means that works with our cultural and economiclandscape. The objective of tax amnesty is to forgive or negotiate the tax liabilities of individual and corporate tax payers in line with laid down statutes. An amnesty must necessarily have a legal or legislative backing for it to take effect with a cut off date. Amnesty will not knock off the penalties for deliberate tax infractions, but will seek a possible relaxation of some of these penalties to encourage the expansion of the tax net, albeit temporary.And one key demand will be an agreement between the taxpayer and the tax administrator to file future returns on time in the future.

    A major challengewhich the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and various State Boards of Internal Revenue (SBIR) contend with is the issue of mounting tax arrears. In some cases the companies have collapsed while the going concerns are not complying as and when due. While the tool of enforcement should not be replaced with amnesty completely, it is however a tool that can be deployed to increase revenue collection. Amnesty or some of form relief will certainly encourage defaulting taxpayers to negotiate their tax debt obligations with respective collecting agencies, which will then enable them to start on a clean slate. It implies that a taxpayer who has enjoyed the magnanimity of amnesty will not be qualified more than once and stiffer penalty can then apply to such a taxpayer in the future in the event of a default. It must also be taken into account that not all defaulting taxpayers do it deliberately. This may be due to inadequate education on when and how to file tax returns, even though the FIRS as made tremendous progress in this regard.

    Australia, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Russia and closer home South Africa are some countries that have designed tax amnesty programmes and successfully implemented them. In 2003 via the Exchange Control Amnesty and Amendment of Taxation Laws Act, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) successfully implemented their first amnesty program. The second was the Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP) implemented to cover all taxes in 2011. In September 2010 the Greece parliament in compliance with the EU bailout plan,hurriedly sanctioned a tax amnesty program to raise between 2billion- 3billion from a backlog of unpaid taxes in the heat of the economic meltdown that hit them. It is vital to point out that it is not only local taxpayers that amnesty can be extended to, but it is even more important and attractive to repatriation of illegal offshore investments.

    On June 26, last year, IRS Commissioner,Doug Shulman said the IRS offshore voluntary disclosure programs has so far collected more than $5 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties from 33,000 voluntary disclosures under the first two amnesty programs implemented by the IRS.

    It has not been all bliss for various tax amnesty programs. In December last year, the Spanish Finance Minister, Cristabol Montoro declared that only 1.2billion euro was raised against a projection of 2.5billion euro. Meaning that amnesty in itself is not foolproof as a wholesome solution to compliance. But it does help to close the arrears gap.

    Though some will argue that Amnesty effectively legitimises evasion, which might be reasonably correct on the surface of it, however in the case of Nigeria, that might not readily be so in the sense that the capacity to enforce or prosecute defaulters as contained in the fourth and fifth schedule and section 4 of the FIRS Establishment 2007 specify appropriate penalties for tax offenders. In February 2013, the Missouri State Parliament approved a tax amnesty programme projected to raise as much as $75million to boost state revenue. Under the proposed law, taxpayers will get a waiver on back taxes interests and penalties if they pay past due obligations between August 1 and October 31 tied to compliance to state tax laws for another eight years, failure of which waived interests and penalties would become debts again. And such participants would not be qualified for amnesty programs of such nature in the future.

    Certainly tax amnesty programs help in clawing back needed funds to fund infrastructural development but has to be carefully designed with our unique environment in mind. The impact will be far reaching if the FIRS and SBIRSs working under the auspices of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) collaborate for this purpose. However executive and legislative approval will be vital to the success of any program of this nature that improves compliances levels among defaulting taxpayers. Let’s try tax amnesty for size.

  • Boko Haram: Is Amnesty Committee working?

    Boko Haram: Is Amnesty Committee working?

    The mandate of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges expires this month. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines its activities and scorecard.

    WHEN the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges was inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan, many thought that the days of the Boko Haram sect were numbered. Its main objective was to broker peace between the dreadful sect and the Federal Government.

    Recently, the committee claimed that it had reached an agreement on ceasefire with the sect. Many Nigerians received the news with cautious optimism. The reason is not far-fetched. The chairman of the committee and Special Duties Minister, Alhaji Taminu Turaki, claimed that his committee had engaged the leadership of the sect in dialogue and reached an understanding for a ceasefire. The minister also claimed that it had reached a truce with the authentic leadership of the sect. He said, although its spiritual head, Abubakar Shekau, was not directly involved, he was aware of the development.

    But Shekau objected to Turaki’s claim. In a video message, he debunked reports that negotiations were on-going with his group. He said the sect will continue with its campaign of violence. To prove that it was not ready for dialogue with the government, the sect launched deadly attacks in Kano two days after. No fewer than 20 persons were killed. In Borno State, gunmen believed to be on reprisal mission, also targeted youths, who had formed a vigilante team, the Civilian JTF, in Dawashe Village. About 21 persons were reportedly killed in the Borno attack.

    Ironically, at a time the Turaki’s committee claimed that it had brokered peace in Bauchi, gunmen, in another reprisal attack, killed 44 people at Dumba village, near Baga, Bornu State. The gunmen were also said to have set some houses in the village on fire. This attacks cast doubt on the true identity of those the Turaki Committee claimed to have dialogued with.

    More disturbing was the claim by the committee on May 9 that it met with Kabiru Sokoto and other suspected members of the sect in Kuje Prisons, Abuja. Sokoto, the alleged mastermind of the December 25, 2011 bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, denied ever meeting with the committee.

    The counsel to Sokoto, Mr Sharif Okoh, said the suspect was in court on the aforementioned date. He also pointed out that Sokoto was being held in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS), and not the Kuje Prisons, where the purported meeting with the committee took place.

    Okoh said: “We were in court with our client when members of the committee told the world that they visited Kabiru Sokoto in Kuje Prisons. We (lawyers) asked him, if it was true, and he said that no member of that committee or any other committee visited him. So, that means that the members committee are telling lies.”

    Committee’s mandate

    On April 24, the Presidential Amnesty Committee was inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan to proffer solutions to Boko Haram insurgence within three months. It was mandated to develop a framework for granting amnesty to the sect, set up a framework through which disarmament could take place within a 60-day time frame and develop a comprehensive victims’ support programme and mechanism to address the underlying causes of insurgencies that will help to prevent future occurrences.

    Lacklustre performance

    Against the backdrop of the committee’s terms of reference, Nigerians are not impressed with its performance. A legal practitioner, Ibrahim Idris, said the inconsistency and insincerity of the Federal Government has manifested in the lacklustre performance of the amnesty committee.

    Idris noted that, initially, President Jonathan perceived the members of the Boko Haram group as ghosts and ruled out any dialogue with faceless people. Later, the Federal Government made a u-turn, saying it would dialogue with the sect leaders. “Less than a month after the committee was set up, the Federal Government proscribed the Boko Haram sect. Now that the Boko Haram sect has been outlawed, is amnesty committee still relevant? The answer is no. How do you negotiate peace or ask those you have engaged in military action to come to a roundtable conference for peace talk? It is not possible. The military in their operations keep killing the insurgents and innocent people on daily basis and you still want them to come out so that you will round them up. Boko Haram members are not fools.

    “The committee is a distraction. It’s of no use. Since its establishment four months ago, what has it achieved? Has the committee ever dialogue with the real leaders of the Boko Haram group? How many times have they visited Borno and Yobe states; these are places, which are considered as the haven of the sect, to seek audience with their leaders? However, the committee finds it convenient to stay in Abuja writing reports that are lacking in credibility,” he said.

    Idris also pointed out that the victims of the massive killings by the sect have not been rehabilitated.

    An Urban Planning Consultant, Abubakar Usman, said the Federal Government has failed to convince Nigerians that it has the capacity to deal with the Boko Haram insurgency. He said: “The fact that the situation got to a stage where amnesty has been combined with full military operations shows that the government has failed. He said the government ought to have crushed “But, here we are still talking of amnesty because incompetence has brought us here. Why should government include politicians that are most likely to hide the truth, if we are really interested in dealing with the insurgency? What is the big deal in having someone who has interfaced with the insurgent group as a member of the committee, if the Federal government is really sincere in pursuing peace?

    “The government needs to understand that the issue at hand is beyond politics and must, therefore, not use it as an avenue to reward political loyalists. The entire situation may not have gotten this bad, if government had not played politics with it when it first surfaced. Government should engage the right people, who can muster the courage to mediate between it and the sect and stay away from playing politics with the issue,” he advised.

    Road map for peace

    Civil rights activist Mallam Shehu Sani said the insurgency can be resolved, if the government embrace the right method. He advised the government to dust the report he submitted to former President Obasanjo and that of Dr Datti Ahmed, which was facilitated by a journalist, Ahmed Serkida.

    Sani added: “The road map for peace is first and foremost, to get mediators that are acceptable to the Boko Haram sect and recognised by the government. The Dialogue Committee, if recognised by the government and not accepted by the Boko Haram sect, as it is now, will fail. But when you have a mediating body, which has the stamp of approval from both sides, both sides will listen”.

    Sani stressed that both sides should agree on a ceasefire. Such a ceasefire should be announced by sect and not the government, because all the ceasefires that we have heard were announced by the government and dismissed by the Boko Haram sect.

    Sani and Ahmed were appointed members of the amnesty committee by the government, but the duo declined to serve because, according to them, they were not consulted. Ahmed explained further that his decision was based on his past experience in dealing with the government on the security issue. “First, the government reneged on its agreement to grant the two conditions the Boko Haram sect demanded for a successful dialogue to take place, thus displaying its insincerity. Secondly, the report of the committee may be filled with lies, considering the fact that the chairman and secretary are serving minister and civil servant respectively, who will feel obligated to tell the government what it wants to hear”.

    Many have also complained about the approach adopted by the committee. For example, a major stakeholder in the dialogue process, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has alleged that the committee did not seek any input or even contact the group, until it was about to round off its activities. CAN President Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor made the claim when members of the committee visited him. He said the report of the committee would not be acceptable to the Christian body.

    Idris has other grievances. He said that, despite the fact that the committe has not shown enough capacity, its mandate was extended by two months, effective from July 24. He said the extension was unnecessary because it will not make any difference in the performance of the committee.

    According to him, the committee has failed to come up with a frame work on disarmament, adding that violent attacks have persisted. “If the committee could not persuade the insurgents to surrender arms, five months after its inauguration, there was no guarantee that it will achieve this feat in less than one month”, he said.

  • Amnesty alleges eviction of 9000 in Lagos

    Amnesty alleges eviction of 9000 in Lagos

    Tens of thousands of Nigerians risk being made homeless as part of redevelopment plans in Lagos, Amnesty International said in a report.

    The rights group said 9,000 people have already been forced from their homes during the first phase of the plans.

    “The effects of February’s forced eviction have been devastating,” said Amnesty’s Oluwatosin Popoola.

    A local official told the BBC that displaced residents would get priority when new houses became available.

    Slums have sprung up all over Lagos as a result of people pouring into the overcrowded city in search of work.

    Amnesty has published satellite images showing what it said was “a densely populated area’’ that was razed to the ground in February.

    The group said it took the images to disprove claims by government officials that the affected area was a rubbish dump.

    Amnesty said residents were now sleeping in the open, at risk of disease and bandits, and that thousands of people have lost their livelihoods along with their homes.

    The report calls on Lagos authorities to halt the forced evictions.

    According to the BBC, the sight of bulldozers moving into slum areas at dawn and flattening people’s homes is a familiar scene, happening more and more in cities across the continent.

    Bringing some order to this chaotic city of more than 15 million people is a huge challenge for the state government, our correspondent says.

    Critics say the wealth gap is widening as those forced from their homes can only dream of owning an apartment in the new developments that are replacing the city’s slums.

    “We want the state government to remember that we are not animals,” Tunde Aworetam, a pastor in the affected community, is quoted as telling a news conference.

    Commissioner for Housing Bosun Jeje, told the BBC the authorities were trying to improve the living conditions of the people in the area.

    “I went there personally before we cleared the place and I can tell you if you look at the video and you look at the documentary before we cleared the place you couldn’t find a single housing structure except the shanties that were there,” he said.

    But he said the government had been talking to the people and “addressing the problems”.

    He said the displaced residents would be given priority when new houses become available for rent.

  • 9,000 hit by forced evictions in Nigeria – Report

    Forced evictions in Nigeria’s largest city Lagos have cost around 9,000 people their homes or livelihoods, Amnesty International and a local rights group said in a report Monday.

    Tens of thousands more could be at risk if the government proceeds with plans to redevelop the slum area of Badia East, said the report, issued jointly with the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC).

    Residents said armed police and bulldozers moved in without warning in February, forcing them out, in what the government has termed the first phase of its clearance plan.

    “The effects of February’s forced eviction have been devastating for the Badia East community where dozens are still sleeping out in the open or under a nearby bridge exposed to rain, mosquitoes and at risk of physical attack,” said Oluwatosin Popoola, Amnesty International’s Nigeria researcher.

    The report calls on Lagos authorities to halt the forced evictions, aimed at bringing order to the chaotic and crowded metropolis which is home to 15 million people.

    “It is estimated that close to 9,000 residents of Badia East lost their homes or livelihoods,” AFP quoted a statement on the report.

    “If these plans proceed as described, tens of thousands will be at risk of forced eviction and face possible destitution.”

    Slums have sprung up throughout Lagos as residents pour into the sprawling city in search of work from different parts of the country.

    The two groups used before-and-after satellite images showing concrete houses and other structures razed to the ground to dispute claims by an official that the area cleared was a rubbish dump.

    A survey carried out by residents estimated that at least 266 buildings containing homes and businesses were completely destroyed, affecting an estimated 2,237 households.

    Similar evictions have been carried in other places across Nigeria, with thousands of residents left homeless.

    AFP says Lagos government officials did not immediately return calls for comment.

     

     

  • Family battles Amnesty Office over death of trainee in Poland

    Family battles Amnesty Office over death of trainee in Poland

    The death of an amnesty trainee in Panama while on industrial training aboard a Polish ship has opened a floodgate of controversy that has pitted the family against the Amnesty Office over the handling of his death and conduct of an autopsy. Shola O’NEIL reports

    A few hours before his death, relatives of Deck Cadet Godwin Ezebiri said he chatted with a sibling on Facebook. Mr. Pax Ezebiri said during the chat on Wednesday, June 5, Godwin asked for his account details to enable him remit money to Nigeria.

    The young cadet was in Panama, South America aboard a vessel, M/V Green Guatemala, owned by Green Reefer, a Polish company. He was one of the beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s amnesty training programme and was on industrial training when he died on June 6.

    A copy of the draft statement on his death signed by the master of the vessel, L. Sapelevics, indicated that prior to his death, the 27-year-old indicated his aversion to continuing as a seaman.

    Sapelevics said after a fellow amnesty trainee signed off, the late Ezebiri decided he wanted out and kept asking about the next port and the possibility of him leaving.

    “During our discussion Ezebiri told me that he most probably will change his opinion about seaman’s life and seaman…He said that he wants to back to home at next port due to that he tired and difficult to him stay long time aboard (sic).”

    The document indicated that the late Ezebiri met with the captain and asked for news about the next port and was determined to sign off.

    “At 20:20lt on 06th of June 2013, we received inform (sic) from deck cadet G. Ezebiri that he filling (sic) badly. At 20:22 lt I started to call Boyd Steamship agency for calling doctor/ambulance.

    “At 20:45 lt Deck Cadet G. Ezebiri died. We tried to resuscitate but without success,” the statement concluded.

    The management of Green Reefer later communicated his death to the Amnesty Office, which through an official, Mr. Brown Aroloye, communicated his next of kin, identified as Oloye.

    “Curiously, after the contact was made, the company started dealing directly with us (family) without going through the amnesty office. We felt this was not right because our brother left Nigeria under the banner of the amnesty office and we felt that they should talk to us through the office,” Pax said.

    Unimpressed with the turn of event, the family contacted the law firm of Larry Ovwromoh & Associates, which wrote a letter dated July 12 to the Amnesty Office.

    The letter regretted that the office “failed, refused and neglected” to inform the family of Ezebri’s death and raised questions about the cause of his death; Amnesty Office’s handling of the events afterwards and the conduct of autopsy without the family’s knowledge and consent.

    It expressed shock that the Amnesty Office “is so detached in respect of this death and is yet to officially inform our clients and ascertain the cause of death.”

    They demanded that the inquest be revisited, adding: “It is only after a satisfactory explanation and elimination of any foul play in the cause of death that the family will be in any position to receive the body of their late brother.”

    Besides, our reporter gathered that the family raised questions over discrepancy in the time of death contained in Sapelevics statement and that in the inquest conducted by Dr Omar Zapata of the Legal Medicine and Forensic Science Institute, Colon.

    “By the said coroner’s inquest, Ezebiri died of natural causes but curiously the time of death contradicts the statement made by the master of MV Green Guatemala, L. Sapelevics.” The former put time of death at 10:45pm, while the latter’s was 20:45 (8:45pm).

    Mr. Daniel Alabrah, media aide to Special Adviser on Amnesty to the President, who was contacted by our reporter, confirmed the death of Ezebri, adding that the office was saddened by it.

    “We are very sad about this because having spent money to train him and others it is expected that they would return home and contribute to the development of the Niger Delta. This is very painful to us because every trainee is a member of our family,” Alabrah added.

    He confirmed that a new autopsy is to be conducted in Nigeria to satisfy the family’s demand for a new process.

    War of words

    Nevertheless, our independent investigation revealed that from the discussions between the family and Green Reefer before the body was brought to Nigeria on July 12, the company had made a number of verbal commitments to the family, especially towards the burial.

    “They promised to provide money to purchase a piece of land, fence it, build a tomb for Godwin as well as repatriate money and his belonging to us,” a younger sibling of the deceased seaman told our reporter.

    However, the family source said when the Amnesty Officer took over the discussion, it only offered the company “N500,000 burial support and money for ambulance” and offered to conduct a fresh autopsy in Lagos.

    Consequently, the family protested to the company and cited legal roadblock in the plan to bury the deceased without recourse to existing law, particularly as it affects the involvement of NIMASA. Thereafter, Green Reefers consulted Marine Mutual Service Limited in Lagos to look at the issues raised by the Ezebiris. John Biakinogho of MMSL then wrote to Mr. Brown Aroloye of the Amnesty Office highlighting the hurdle to a fresh autopsy. The letter dated affirmed that the company was not willing to contravene local laws.

    The letter elicited a stern riposte from Aroloye who expressed shock about Biakinogho’s sudden realisation of his “duties and responsibilities concerning the death”.

    “Perhaps you are not aware when the autopsy was conducted on the late Ezebiri in Panama and you did not invoke any act or law. You did not even care to know who receives the body when it arrives (sic) Nigeria and where it was deposited thereafter. Perhaps you need to take custody of the corpse so you can execute your investigation appropriately.”

    Mr Osteen Igbapike, a lawyer from Larry Ovwromoh & Associate confirmed the impasse. He said the merchant shipping act provides for a seafarer office in charge of engagement of seafarers and issues regarding such incidents as the cadet’s death. He said only the consular office of Poland (home company of Green Reefers) in Nigeria and the Seafarers Office are responsible for termination benefit and welfare of the deceased.

    “If the records of his engagement are not available, then the seafarers office is criminally liable and can go to jail for this death. The two have not been part of this process so far and it shows that something is amiss,” he added.

    The body has remained at the morgue. A source in the Amnesty Office blamed the development on a member of the deceased family who “wants to make something for himself”.

     

     

     

  • Centre urges review of Amnesty for ex-militants

    THE Centre for Peace and Environment Justice (CEPEJ) has called for the review of the amnesty granted ex-militants in the Niger Delta.

    The organisation said the training for the ex-militants should have factored in the remediation of the environment devastated by years of militancy, illegal bunkering and oil exploration activities.

    CEPEJ’s National Coordinator Sheriff Mulade, spoke at a a review of the amnesty programme to train the former warlords on how they can help clean the environment destroyed by attacks on oil facilities.

    He said: “The Federal Government should review the amnesty programme with inclusion of Environmental Remediation Taskforce to engage trained youths as this will help to solve issue of unemployment.

    “We have observed that the Presidential Amnesty Programme for Niger Delta youths addresses capacity building through training and re-integration, without capability. It fails to tackle the fundamental issues of underdevelopment as well as environment pollution and degradation caused by the reckless activities of multinational oil companies, illegal bunkering and oil theft.

    “It is regrettable that over the years, oil pollution had destroyed farmlands, waterways and various sources of drinkable water, thereby impoverishing the local people and affecting their socio-economic well being. Also cases of oil spillage recorded were not handled in a satisfactory manner by oil companies and relevant government agencies.

    “We are calling on the Federal Government, especially the Special Adviser to the president on Niger Delta Affairs, Kingsley Kuku, to set up an Environmental Remediation Taskforce to critically address this environmental challenge through the Federal Government’s laudable programme, as well as take proactive steps to monitor oil spillage and cleanup activities in the Niger Delta.”

    Mulade said the majority of unrest and criminalities taking place in the region are the handiwork of unemployed trained ex-militants, who have not been gainfully engaged since returning from training.

    He disclosed that CEPEJ, in collaboration with the Bayelsa State government, was organising a two-day annual peace and environment seminar with the theme “Towards Eradicating Environmental Threats and Sea Piracy Challenges in Africa”.

    Mulade said the seminar would address fundamental issues, such as crude oil theft and illegal refineries, illegal mining, kidnapping and marine piracy, as well as other environmental challenges in Africa.

    He added that the forum would facilitate policy and dialogue among key stakeholders in the environment sector on how best to promote innovations to meet environmental best practices.

    Among the speakers to deliver papers at the event are the Minister of Environment, Hajia Hadiza Mailafia; the Deputy Minister of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation, Ghana, Dr. (Mrs.) Bernice Heloo; Prof. Moses Montesh of the College of Law, University of South Africa, Pretoria and other renowned academics from within and outside Nigeria.

     

     

  • Weighing the war, amnesty for insurgents

    Weighing the war, amnesty for insurgents

    As the Nigerian government battles Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast, officials are also grappling with how to end the fighting and what to do with the rebels once peace is restored. New York-based Human Rights Watch says when the battle is done there will be no peace without justice. But some Nigerian leaders say the battles will never end without compromise.

    How to stop Boko Haram insurgents from killing people has become a national debate in Nigeria. The most common answers are: crush them with military might or, find out why they are killing people and negotiate a peace deal.

    The Federal Government is currently trying both approaches.

    Three northeastern states have been locked down in a state of emergency for more than six weeks now and thousands of troops have been deployed. Meanwhile a presidentially appointed committee is trying to get Boko Haram leaders to come out of the shadows and talk.

    “Constructive discussion that will lead to dialogue. Dialogue that will lead to peaceful resolution of the security challenges in the north,” said Amnesty Committee Chair Kabiru Tanimu Turaki explaining how the process will work.

    “And which will also lead not only to disarmament but de-radicalisation of a large chunk of the members of the movement who have unfortunately been radicalized on ideologies that cannot be said to be straight.”

    HRW said more than 3,600 people have been killed since 2009 in attacks by Boko Haram, clashes, and extra-judicial killings by security forces.

    In a letter to Turaki published Tuesday, Human Rights Watch urged him to “reject amnesty for atrocities” and exclude anyone responsible for “crimes against humanity” from any amnesty deal. The group said if Nigeria fails to prosecute those who they believe have violated international law, the International Criminal Court has the authority to do so.

     

    But before anyone can be punished, or given amnesty, whoever is responsible for the Boko Haram carnage has to be caught or come to the table. And they don’t appear to be interested.

    On the other hand, in Nigeria “amnesty” is sometimes considered code for a pot of gold and could attract a lot of interest from low-level Boko Haram soldiers in a region where most people live in abject poverty.

    After years of fighting the government and oil companies in the southern Niger Delta region, tens of thousands of ex-militants still get roughly $350 a month after turning in their weapons in 2009. Some of their leaders are reported to be getting much more.

     

    •Culled from VOA

  • Abuja celebrates amnesty

    Tor a time, it looked as though nothing else mattered at the nation’s capital.

    The prestigious Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja, was filled to capacity. Guests who turned up late had to endure standing. Representatives of the Federal Government as well as staff of the Amnesty Programme were in high spirits. Beneficiaries of the programme could not be happier.

    Hard work, determination and hope paid off in the end. Youths of the Niger Delta who once bore arms against the Federal Government and its facilities lay down their weapons and forsook agitation. They embraced rehabilitation, choosing to acquire skills. Today, many of them are pilots, engineers, skilled farmers, among others.

    The event left no one in doubt that the celebrators, the Federal Government and erstwhile militants, now preferring to be addressed as ex-agitators, came to celebrate the success of what was once thought to be a hopeless situation.

    Hours before the celebration of the fourth anniversary of the Amnesty Proclamation and third year of the implementation of the Amnesty Programme, at the prestigious Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja, the expansive hall was filled to capacity.

    Almost half of the hall was occupied, not by the staff of Amnesty Programme office or civil servants but the beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme.

    The Ijaw National Congress (INC) was fully represented, and it almost looked like it was the INC that was being celebrated when the Chairman, Amnesty Programme, who doubles as the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku, took the podium and invited contributions from each member of the Congress to the ‘struggle’. He went from how the journey started back in their school days to the Kiama Declaration, to the protests borne out of sheer determination, to the arrests and down to the success of the day.

    The event began with Lawrence Pepple, Head of Reintegration Department, who took the guests through how disarmament began with 20,192 persons, through 6,166 for the second phase before ending with the third and final phase of 3,64216.

    In highlighting the positive side of the Federal Government’s programme, Kuku said the country is enjoying peace that has boosted the Nigerian economy, adding that crude oil production now hovers around 2,6 and 2.3.8 million barrels per day. The volume of savings, according to him, translates to about N33.4b per day. Ironically, he noted the country needed about N4 trillion for its national budget but the region was able to provide an estimated N6.3 trillion last year.

    Though he assured Nigerians that the youth will not return to militancy, Kuku took time to debunk insinuations that the reformed youths were involved in oil theft. He hinged his argument on the fact that Niger Deltans are too poor and technically disadvantaged to partake in the lucrative and highly technical illicit venture. He said the illegal trade was perpetrated by some highly placed Nigerians and their international collaborators, adding that the only Niger Delta indigenes that could be found in the circle would be manual labourers that have no real consequence on the illicit trade.

    “Oil theft is highly technical and capital intensive and there is no way you can find Niger Delta youths involved in it. These products are transported in vessels; no Niger Delta indigene has a vessel. Also, it is a supply and demand thing, meaning that if there is no demand, there won’t be supply. In other words, there must be international collaborators involved, Niger Delta youths don’t have such connections. In addition, where would Niger Delta youths have the resources to pay for demurrage running to months in many instances? Peasants can’t engage in such business and majority of Niger Delta youths are peasants,” he said

    He, however, assured that the menace would soon be a thing of the past as President Goodluck Jonathan has taken up the issue with his colleagues around the world. ”It is an international crime of demand and supply but the President is dealing with it because highly placed people in and out of Nigeria are involved, not our Niger Delta youths”.

    Kuku presented 22 trained pilots and instructors who graduated from the African Union Aviation Academy. All of them have been certified as CLPs (Commercial Licensed Pilots) including a 20-year-old Favour Odozor, who is the youngest pilot in the country. She was also presented alongside her colleagues. Fifteen out of 40 ex-militants who became gainfully employed after their formal training by the Amnesty Office were also in the hall as well as 25 ex-militants that also completed their Masters Degrees in various disciplines in the United Kingdom. Several trained ex-militants that have been offered formal employment in the private sector were also invited for the event.

    ”Four years on, the Amnesty Proclamation has generally met the desired goal, which is the stabilisation of security conditions in strategic Niger Delta. A total of 30,000 persons were enlisted in the Amnesty Programme. Of this number, 14,000 have been deployed to universities as well as vocational training centres both within and outside the country. Over 11,700 have graduated in various fields and several of them have been employed including 10 with the Nigerian Army and six with the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), 40 with the Century Energy Group, five with SAP Drilling Oil and Gas Ltd and 30 with the Proclad Group, Dubai, UAE,” Kuku said.

    The Presidential aide also reiterated government resolve to terminate the programme by 2015. He said though there is no going back on the exit date of 2015 for the Programme, Kuku however disclosed that the Amensty office would  complete the training of all enrolled ex-militants. ”Beneficiaries who are pursuing long-term educational programmes shall duly hand over existing Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) who are statutorily empowered to oversee scholarship and training programmes of the Federal Government”.

    Kulu said the Federal Government will pay a N65,000 monthly allowance to 30,000 ex-militants for the provision of critical infrastructure and impactful development projects in the region as contained in the Amnesty Proclamation to help stimulate economic growth of the region.

     

  • 4th year Anniversary of Amnesty Proclamation

    4th year Anniversary of Amnesty Proclamation

  • Why amnesty must end in 2015, by Kuku

    Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Chairman Kingsley Kuku has said there is no going back on the 2015 terminal date of the amnesty for ex-militants in the Niger Delta.

    He said failure to end the programme could bring about instability in the region as it is grappling with exit strategy challenges that were not envisaged when the amnesty proclamation was made in 2009.

    Kuku spoke yesterday at the seventh Business Law Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association Section on Business Law in Lagos.

    He implored Southsouth governors to initiate youth engagement programmes to create opportunity for empowerment for the ex-militants.

    Kuku said the inability to secure jobs for the ex-militants who have been trained in many technical areas related to oil and gas portends danger for the region.

    He said the youths may be tempted to eke out a living from illegal activities.

    The PAP chairman noted that the gains of the programme could be eroded, if the government fails to close the programme by 2015 because of fresh agitations for enlistment by youths, who now see militancy as a way of accessing public funds.

    He said it would be better to train people who seek empowerment rather than just distributing money to youths who do not add value to economic activities.

    Kuku called for equity in the stipends paid to ex-militants in training , as opposed to those who collect monthly stipends while waiting to be sent for training.

    He canvassed a reduction of the N65,000 paid to beneficiaries in training to the statutory N18,000 minimum wage, such that those who are undergoing training do not earn far more than those awaiting training, who earn N65,000 monthly.

    “It will be in the best interest of Nigeria for government to terminate the presidential amnesty programme by 2015.

    “If it is not closed by 2015, it will lose its taste. This is because it will become an alternative government in the Niger Delta.

    “We are battling exit strategy challenges. If we reduce the monthly stipend for those in training to the prescribed minimum wage, which is N18,000, it would discourage more people to take to militancy.

    “We should have stopped paying N65,000 after pulling the militants from the creeks and fixing it at the minimum wage,” he canvassed.

    The PAP chairman explained that the programme had key challenges bordering on post-training expectations, which are becoming very critical.

    “To avoid further crisis, the programme should end in 2015. We must be ready to exit the programme.”