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Tag: Charles Dokubo

  • Amnesty programme: Dokubo’s magic wand

    A DISARMING smile is his trademark, a veritable asset that neutralizes the temperature of an environment he finds himself. For Prof. Charles Dokubo, coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, carrying a light heart creates a pleasant atmosphere for productivity to flourish and breed a fertile ground for fresh initiatives to actualize his vision for the Niger Delta.

    Several years before his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2018, Dokubo had been quietly working behind the scene on finding a solution to the Niger Delta debacle, as he shared the pains of his kith and kin in Nigeria’s oil-rich region occasioned by environmental degradation, economic deprivation and abject poverty.

    His expertise in dealing with regional and international conflict situations and resolution placed him on a vantage position in President Buhari’s determination to chart a new course for the Niger Delta region, and the privilege of being appointed coordinator of the Amnesty Programme provided him an opportunity to breathe a new lease of life into a people dying in installments of neglect and suffocation.

    Dokubo is unwavering in actualizing President Buhari’s developmental vision for the Niger Delta with human capacity building as the focal point, using the instrumentality of the Amnesty Programme as a vehicle to achieve the objective. And he has cautiously steered the wheel on full throttle, recording landmark achievements in a year and five months.

    Within a short period, he was able to not only complete, equip and activate the Oil and Gas Vocational Training Centre at Agadagba-Obon, Ondo State, but also commissioned the Basic Skills Vocational Training Centre at Boro Town, Bayelsa State. The Power and Energy Vocational Training Centre located at Bomadi, Delta State, is almost set to come on stream while work is ongoing at the Agricultural Vocational Training Centre in Gelegele, Edo State, where he performed the foundation laying ceremony on Friday, February 15.

    Also dear to Dokubo’s heart in his effort to fast-track training of beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme, is the Maritime Vocational Training Centre at Oboama, Rivers State. This is apart from the establishment of a liaison office for the Presidential Amnesty Programme in Port Harcourt, the state capital, as a pilot project in his plan to locate liaison offices across all states in the Niger Delta to ease interface with beneficiaries of the programme.

    In the next few weeks, 100 beneficiaries of the Programme will resume training at the Oil and Gas Training Centre at Agadagba-Obon, just as six others who had been trained in aviation and obtained their commercial pilot licenses are scheduled to undergo further training in Florida, USA, for their type-rating.

    Under Dokubo’s watch, 1, 601 beneficiaries have completed training in various skills out of 4, 014 allocated to specialized training vendors, while 1,271 already trained beneficiaries have been given empowerment packs in their respective trade areas to enable them start business. The empowered beneficiaries are among 4,269 scheduled for engagement on completion of their training in various vocational skills.

    While those trained acquired skills in fish and poultry farming; Greenhouse farming; tailoring and fashion design, mechanized rice farming and agribusiness; transformer repair/maintenance; pig farming, automobile, aquaculture and snail farming; shoe making/leather works, and ICT, among others, the empowered beneficiaries were on building materials, fish farming, poultry, welding, pig farming, plastic technology, electronic stores, cassava farming, commodity shop, and feed sales. The aggressive empowerment drive for beneficiaries drawn from all states in the Niger Delta is the result of efforts by Dokubo towards ensuring that already trained beneficiaries were fully engaged to fast-track development and deepen peace in the region.

    Unfortunately, his uncommon leadership style and amazing achievements propelled by a commitment towards rewriting the sad narrative of the Niger Delta is discomforting for some self-acclaimed leaders of the region who had fed fat on the Amnesty Programme, and he has been at the receiving end of poisonous missiles aimed at dislocating him.

    To be sure, Dokubo’s detractors are unrelenting in their efforts at throwing a spanner in the works for his effrontery in arresting the smooth flow of a food basket they had deliberately bled to swell their pockets. That sinister objective explains some fake news, fairy tales and vicious attacks on the person of Dokubo and the Amnesty Programme, with intent to blur his vision for the Niger Delta, break his spirit, and make him recoil into his shell. They’ve failed woefully.

    Dokubo’s passion for development of the Niger Delta is fired by affinity to a common history and destiny, and his burning desire to make positive change cannot be extinguished. His magic wand used in turning around the Amnesty Programme and deepening peace in the hitherto restive region has earned him resounding applause and overwhelming support from the leaders of Niger Delta ex-agitators, royal fathers, community leaders and stakeholders.

    It is heartwarming that even as his enemies who are blind to the reality on ground are resolute in their evil machinations, well-meaning Niger Deltans appreciate and have supported him in good conscience. The message is that Dokubo’s presence at the Amnesty Programme is divine, and those bent on pulling him down should not test the will of God. Dokubo is simply doing his bit in oiling the wheel of peace, security and development in the Niger Delta region and by extension, Nigeria. He needs to be encouraged.

     

    • Ganagana is Special Assistant (Media) to the Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme

     

  • Akeredolu: Dokubo committed to Niger Delta development

    Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) has praised coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, for his commitment to the development of the Niger Delta.

    A statement on Sunday by Dokubo’s media aide, Murphy Ganagana, said Akeredolu spoke in Abuja at the weekend when he visited Dokubo in his office.

    According to Akeredolu, the coordinator has, within a short period, demonstrated a clear commitment to the objectives of the Programme.

    “Well, it is not the first time I have met him. Prof. Dokubo is someone from Niger Delta and he is committed to this programme, that, he has shown today. He has a personal commitment to everything that has to do with Niger Delta because he is one of them. So, I see that in him, and he has shown it,” Akeredolu noted.

    The governor, however, urged the Federal Government to continuously assess and review participation in the programme to provide a window of opportunity for more youths in the Niger Delta to be included in the interventionist programme.

    According to him, expansion of the scope to accommodate more persons will take away a lot of unrest in the Niger Delta.

    The governor had visited Dokubo to solicit the inclusion of some Ondo youths into the programme. These youths had been disarmed and granted amnesty by the state government.

    He said: “We are here to discuss matters that have to do with amnesty as they affect our people in Ondo State. The meeting went well and we are going to work on our decisions.

    Read Also: Still on OBJ’s letter

    “I think a few things have been done by him (Dokubo), and from our discussions, there must be continuous assessment of this programme, at least, to be sure that people do not take advantage of it. If you have had been trained or you have gone to school, then use the benefit for yourself; don’t deny others the opportunity to come into the scheme.

    “If you have been to the university or you have been trained, and you still want to be collecting money; don’t deny others the opportunity to come into the scheme; it cannot be unending that you think that the government has all the money in this world to spend. People who have been trained should not be expected to be paid money. No, it is not right.

    “I think there must come a time where people who have completed the programme should exit so others can come in; there should also be a way the programme can accommodate them; which is what we anchored our discussion on. The Federal Government should look into it so that where there are people coming in, there should be budgetary provisions for them so that they can run this programme properly.”

    Prof. Dokubo, who thanked Akereodlu for the visit, explained that including more persons into the programme is an exclusive preserve of the President, and unless there was a presidential proclamation to accommodate more persons with budgetary expansion, he lacked the powers to take such decision.

    He, however, said the programme was willing to train non-benefitting youths at the world-class training facilities if state governments in the region were ready to pay monthly stipends of their delegates.

     

  • ‘First Lady didn’t order sack at Amnesty Office’

    The Presidential Amnesty Office has dismissed reports by an online portal that the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, ordered the sack of some of its workers over leaked documents of a contract scam.

    An online news agency quoted Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo as telling some senior officials of the Office that Mrs. Buhari directed him to sack some workers.

    But a statement yesterday by Dokubo’s media aide, Murphy Ganagana, said the report was concocted to achieve a mischievous and sinister motive.

    He stressed that the Office of the First Lady does not interfere in the affairs of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, and at no time requested or directed Prof. Dokubo to sack any worker.

    Ganagana noted that no worker of the Presidential Amnesty Programme was sacked for any reason whatsoever, and there was no contract scam at the Amnesty Office.

    Read Also: First Lady impersonator: Firm opens up on N150m deal

    The statement reads: “The report on Pointblanknews is standing truth on its head; its claim that Prof. Dokubo was tongue-lashed by senior officials of the presidency who queried him over leaked deals, is a wicked lie that could only emanate from the devil. Prof. Dokubo was neither invited nor queried by the presidency over leaked deals or documents, and he did not get any directive to sack any worker of the Amnesty Office.

    “The latest missile fired at Prof Dokubo and the Amnesty Programme is in reaction to a failed attempt which crumbled and missed its target, following a lucid presentation of facts on the alleged N3.2 billion contract scam by the Amnesty Office to the public. This has no doubt punctured the credibility of Pointblanknews, and like a wounded lion, it is splashing muddied water at Prof. Dokubo to smear him.

    “We reiterate that there is no contract scam in the Amnesty Programme, and no dime was paid to the two companies as alleged by Pointblanknews. No worker has been sacked, either on a directive of the First Lady or for any other reason whatsoever.

    “However, it should be emphasised that as a public agency, workers of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, engaged either as consultants or civil servants, are subject to Public Service Rules 030302 to 030306 relating to disciplinary procedures for misconduct.

    “To this end, six workers of the Amnesty Office, comprising four consultants and two civil servants, were recently suspended for breaching provisions of the Public Services Rules, and are expected to appear before a legally-constituted panel in accordance with statutory procedure.

    “The First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, is an embodiment of discipline, high moral standards, forthrightness and compassion. She is a beacon of hope to womanhood, pillar of encouragement and support whose modest contributions to national progress should be appreciated.”

     

  • Updated: Dokubo-must-go protest rocks Bayelsa

    Protesters on Wednesday asked the Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Prof. Charles Dokubo to resign his appointment following the recent looting of the Boro Town Amnesty Training complex in Kaiama, Bayelsa State.

    The placard-carrying youths appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to force Dokubo to step aside to allow independent and unbiased investigations into the looting that lasted five days without any intervention by security agencies.

    The aggrieved youths insisted that PAP officials must be probed on allegations that they stage-managed the stealing of amnesty equipment to conceal alleged fraud and non-existing contracts in the amnesty office.

    The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘Charles Dokubo must be probed for the Kaiama amnesty facility looting’, ‘President Buhari, investigate Buhari for fraud, fake contracts’, ‘all amnesty directors must go’ and ‘there will be no safe haven for the corrupt’.

    Kingsley John, who led the protest under the auspices of Concerned Niger Deltans for Sustainable Development (CNDSD), wondered how looting occurred in a complex for five days without any effort by Dokubo to stop it.

    John, who led the protesters to the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Yenagoa, accused Dokubo of mocking Buhari’s anti-corruption war.

    He said: “The looting of the facility lasted for five days with no police or Military Personnel present to stop the hoodlums.

    “On February 14, 2019, Prof. Dokubo drove along the East-West Road and saw the looting of the facility.

    “Sources said stakeholders who saw him, pleaded with him to call for security, instead, Dokubo drove away and went to Benin on February 14, 2019.

    “Dokubo later called Esther Boro, to go and commission the facility on his behalf.

    Read Also: Amnesty: Buhari won’t forsake Niger Delta – Dokubo

    “While the looting was going on at one end, Madam Esther and a few elders she gathered were commissioning the facility at another end in the same complex all on February 14, 2019.

    “The Head of the Training Center reported the looting to the Police in Bayelsa state February 14, 2019, three days after the looting of the N60bn Vocational Training.

    “After the Head of the Boro-Town Vocational Training Center reported the matter to the police in Bayelsa state, Prof. Dokubo became very angry at him for reporting the matter to the police.

    “Dokubo then instructed him to immediately withdraw his statement and the police report that had already been filed with the police in Bayelsa state.

    “On February 15, 2019, the head of the centre wrote to the police in Bayelsa state to withdraw his statement and the report that he had already filed with the police.

    “Dokubo waited for almost one month after the looting before setting up a committee to investigate the looting. However, the people of Kaiama and Niger Deltans know the truth”.

    But Ganagana faulted all the allegations saying they were baseless and clarifying that immediately the incident happened Dokubo took actions to stop it.

    “It is not true that nothing was done. There was military presence and even the police were drafted to the place immediately the incident started.

    “The invaders were too many that they overwhelmed the security,” he said.

    Ganagana explained there was security deployment even before the incident because the centre was being prepared for the inauguration of the items.

    He said besides the conventional security, the amnesty office maintained private guards at the centre insisting that security was never problem of the vocational facility.

    He said the office took further action to report the incident to the police adding that contrary to claims that the matter was withdrawn, the police were still investigating the reason behind it.

    He said Dokubo’s desire to get to the root of the matter compelled him to set up a high-powered investigative panel to unravel the circumstances behind the looting.

    “Prof. Dokubo will not succumb to the antics of blackmailers. He will remain focused in the discharge of his duties,” he said.

  • I know nothing about the stealing of Amnesty equipment- Dokubo

    …sets up investigative panel

     

    The Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Charles Dokubo has stated that he knows nothing about the stealing of the equipment from the just-commissioned Vocational Training Center in Kaiama, Bayelsa State and has also set up an investigative panel to look into the pilferage.

    The Coordinator shut down rumours of his involvement in the looting during the launch of the Special Investigative Panel to probe the invasion and looting of the training center which took place in Abuja on Monday.

    The members of the panel include Brig-Gen. Sotunde Sangonuga, who is the Chairman of the panel, Mr. Dodoye Arikpo (DSS), Barr. Paddy Ogon, Mrs. Cynthia Ogbe, Mr. Reuben Wilson, and Mr. Unyime Eyo.

    According to Dokubo, he had traveled to his home state of Rivers to participate in the Presidential elections and was not present during the incident.

    “On the evening of Wednesday, 13th February 2019, news filtered into me that certain persons had invaded this same Vocational Training Center in Kaiama and had, in fact, overwhelmed the security men guarding it.

    “The soldiers and other security forces deployed to quell the situation were under strict instruction not to do anything to escalate the tensed pre-election situation in the region.

    “It is not entirely true that the soldiers and other security agencies sent to the place during the incident did nothing to stop the orgy of looting.”

    Dokubo charged the Special Investigative Panel to ‘truly appraise the roles played by the military and other security agencies in Kaiama on that day’ and ensured his office’s full support and cooperation.

    “We shall provide whatever this panel needs to do its job thoroughly without any form of hindrance,” he stated.

    “All summons by this panel must be obeyed by all persons in this office and any subpoenaed document must be supplied.”

    “The Special Investigative Panel has seven working days to complete its investigations and submit its report.”

    Responding to the Coordinator, the Chairman of the Panel, Brig-Gen. Sangonuga disclosed that the panel has started working before the inauguration of the President.

    “We promise a very detailed report that will give insight to what actually happened,” he assured.

    “We are not new to the Amnesty Programme and we are also touched by what happened.”

  • Graduates ex-militants protest non-payment of stipend

    Over 120 ex-militants who recently graduated from the Benson Idahosa University under the Federal Government Amnesty Programme have protested non-payment of their three months stipend.

    The protesting ex-militants said they were supposed to be paid till September, 2018 but there stipends were stopped in June without an explanation.

    They also complained that management of BIU refused to release their certificates after graduation.

    Brandishing placards with various inscriptions, the protesters urged President Mohammadu Buhari to investigate financial activities at the Amnesty office.

    Read Also: Alleged police officer impersonator faces trial

    Sokesman for the protesters, Destiny Onadigha Perewari, said they want Professor Charles Dokubo removed from the Amnesty office.

    Destiny said they have written several letters to the Amnesty office but they didn’t get positive response.

    His words, “We are here to protest against impunity, non-chalant, inhuman, disdain and levity prevalent in the presidential Amnesty office.

    “Our colleagues in other universities were paid their stipend up to September while we were denied of several months of in-training allowance”

  • Dokubo urges ex-millitants to support PMB for more democracy dividends

    Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo has urged critical stakeholders in the Niger-Delta to support President Muhammadu Buhari to enjoy more dividends of democracy.

    Dokubo , who was represented by his Special Assistant (Political Matters), Lucky Loyibo, made this known weekend during a townhall meeting with ex-millitants in Warri, Delta State.

    The tour, which took Prof Quaker Dokubo through Edo,Delta and Bayelsa States, had as its theme “NEED for SUSTAINING LASTING PEACE, DEVELOPMENT, STABILITY & SHOWCASING the ACTIVITIES/ACHIEVEMENT of PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI & AMNESTY OFFICE IN THE NIGER DELTA.”

    Dokubo said the meetings are to enlighten the Niger-Delta people of the need to maintain the present peace so as to engender development in the region and present Buhari’s achievements in the region.

    His words “We are all mindful of the need and importance of peace, development and stability in the region which will lead to increase in oil and gas production, wealth creation, employment generation and sustainable infrastructural and social economic development, attraction of foreign investment and capital inflows to the region…….we wish to urge you-all the Niger-Delta leaders, stakeholders, ex-agitators and the general public to maintain the peace, development and stability in the region which has remained the economic nerve center of the country”.

    He listed some of the achievements of the Amnesty programme to include “Reversing the under- development and engagement of the people”.

    Dokubo maintained that Nigeria has regained the trust and confidence of the international community such that consumer nations are able to meet contractual obligations.

    He said following the birth of the Amnesty programme, sea piracy, pipeline vandalism, militancy has reduced.

    “General” Ben Bowie, Edo State spokesman, praised the Amnesty Programme for prompt payment of ex-millitants, charged the Federal Government to respect the promise of automatic employment for 1st class graduates.

    He argued that Edo State is marginalized, stressing that the State was behind other Niger-Delta States in receiving benefits.

    According to him, ex-millitants in the third phase programme has not been enlisted for training.

    Secretary-General,3rd Phase Amnesty Programme,”General” Ogidigba said ex-militants have benefited from the programme since Prof Dokubo took over, adding that stipends are paid promptly.

    He urged the Federal Government to document all ex-millitants that have dropped their arms to prevent them from going back to militancy.

  • Ex-Militants urge Dokubo to review slots allocation

    Some ex-militants in the Niger Delta region have urged Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Amnesty programme, Prof Charles Dokubo to review what they termed fraudulent allocation of over 500 slots to one Julius Joseph of the 3rd phase amnesty beneficiaries.

    They appealed to Prof Dokubo to collect data of all genuine ex-militants who surrendered their arms to embrace the amnesty programme.

    The ex-militants who spoke to newsmen after a meeting in Benin City said those who were at the meeting with Prof. Dokubo were not true representatives of the beneficiaries of the 3rd phase amnesty programme.

    Read Also: Dokubo: New dawn for Amnesty Programme

    They alleged that the self-acclaimed leader used fake personalities and cronies to rob them of various job slots allocated to them.

    Speaking on behalf of the ex-militants, General Godstime Ogidigba urged Prof.  Dokubo not to have any dealings with any group in the name of the 3rd phase beneficiaries.

    According to him, “This group has been in office for the past six years. Whenever they release slots and there is a meeting in Abuja they will brainstorm and they will collect all our slots without informing us.

    “They will connive and collect all these slots Last week Friday, we went to Abuja for a meeting but most of us were marginalized. Some were in the meeting while others were outside. We saw these things as an injustice.

  • Hilda Dokubo not my staff or relative – Amnesty Boss

    The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Professor Charles Dokubo has clarified that Nollywood actress and filmmaker, Ms. Hilda Dokubo is neither his relative nor a staff of the Presidential Amnesty Office.

    In a statement he personally signed and released to the media in Abuja yesterday, Dokubo decried insinuations that he has hired his relations, particularly Hilda Dokubo to run the affairs of the Amnesty Office.

    He said: “I have deemed it extremely important to clarify that since I assumed office as the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, I have not hired any person. In particular, I have not hired Hilda Dokubo in any capacity at the Amnesty Office and I don’t intend doing so. It is also not true that she is my relative. We are not even from the same Local Government Area.”

    He explained that he was aware that since the inception of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hilda had been participating in the reintegration component of the Amnesty Programme and it was on this score that he allowed her and other stakeholders of the Programme to visit a number of times to share lessons learnt with him in the few days following his appointment.

    “The Amnesty Programme is a classical Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) Programme. All DDR programmmes are fluid and the only way you deepen and improve DDR programmes globally is through sharing experiences and lessons learnt. Hilda Dokubo has come to me to share her experiences while executing certain reintegration assignments given to her by past Coordinators of the Amnesty Programme.

    “In the same regard, so many other persons who have been involved in the Programme since inception have also been coming to brief me and I have even visited those I deemed important to learn a few things from. I really do not know why people now go about saying Hilda Dokubo is my staff or relative,” the Amnesty Coordinator stated.

    It could be recalled that on Tuesday an advocacy group, Niger Deltans for Accountability and Good Governance (NDAGG) disclosed that it has uncovered plot by persons it described as “unscrupulous contractors and enemies of the Niger Delta” to distract and possibly defocus the newly appointed Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and vowed to do all that is legal and within its powers to thwart this plot.

    The Spokesperson for NDAGG, Barrister Claudius Egba in the Statement dismissed a recent publication by another group, ‘Trained Agitators Forum’ alleging that the new Coordinator was allowing a relative of his to wield powers at the Amnesty Office as false and misleading. “First, we must clarify that there is no such group as Trained Agitators Forum. It is just a creation of some disgruntled contractors and enemies of the Niger Delta, who are not happy at the decision of the new Coordinator to review the huge and un-performing contracts awarded by his predecessor, Brig-Gen Paul Boroh (Rtd). They want business as usual but the new Coordinator assured us that he will never allow that and we believe him and totally support his decision to carry out a holistic review of the huge contracts awarded by his predecessor,” the NDAGG Spokesman said.

    The NDAGG Spokesman also refuted reports that renowned actress and movie Producer, Ms. Hilda Dokubo was “running the activities” of the Amnesty Office. “We have just met with Prof. Charles Dokubo, the new Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, he assured us that he has not made any appointments since he assumed office. He has been working with the personnel he met on ground. We, in fact totally frown against that because we are aware that a number of the management staff that worked with his predecessor, Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh did not live up to expectations. Some of them were even known to be very corrupt. We advised him to clean up the place even if it means doing away with most of the personnel in that office,” Barrister Claudius Egba disclosed.

  • Ex-militants allege denial of amnesty benefits, stipends

    A group of Niger Delta ex-militants, on Thursday, lamented moves in the Amnesty Office to deny them their stipends and other benefits.

    The ex-agitators, who fell under the third phase Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) , urged the current Coordinator of the programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, to investigate their complaints and resolve their problem.

    The leader of the group identified simply as ‘General’ Cairo, a.k.a Esenatebe appealed to the Federal Government to consider their travails with a sense of urgency and seriousness.

    He said: “It is something of shame and shock that since the third phase embraced the Federal Government Amnesty Programme those of the third phase have been neglected and have become objects of pity”.

    The former warlord advised Dokubo to learn from the mistakes of his predecessor, Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd), in order to realise the objectives of the scheme.

    He recalled that his group, the Cairo Group, stormed the National Assembly on November 1, 2017, for a protest against Boroh and submitted a petition to the lawmakers.

    He said the petitions detailing injustices done them by the amnesty office were also sent to the Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International and the Presidency.

    Cairo insisted that if the current leadership failed to address their matter,his group would also embark on another round of protest.

    He said: “The Federal Government Amnesty programme was solely created for the Ijaw youths and other youths in the Niger Delta region, but not for people in northern, western and the eastern parts of the country.

    “We also called for the sacking of non-Niger Deltans from the programme because they have become a stumbling block for human capacity development and the need for all-round development of the region.

    “We have been shortchanged in the allocation of slots. We, therefore appeal for the payment of 1000 slots already approved for the Cairo Group because there are provision and appropriation in the 2018 budget in that regard”.

    He insisted that if their request were not considered, they would embark on a peaceful protest to the National Assembly against their marginalization.