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Tag: Dennis Otuaro

  • Peace in Niger Delta, region’s development my priority, PAP boss Otuaro tells youths

    Peace in Niger Delta, region’s development my priority, PAP boss Otuaro tells youths

    Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Administrator Dr. Dennis Otuaro has restated his commitment to the sustenanceof peace in the Niger Delta and the devlopment of the region.

    Otuaro said that PAP, under his watch, would not relent in carrying out the programme’s mandate in line with the President’ Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda (RHA).
    He spoke while responding to an award given to him by some youths in recognition the quality service delivery at the PAP through its robust educational and vocational schemes.
    The youths, under the auspices of the Okerenkoko Federated Communities also lauded Otuaro for the stakeholders’ engagement, peace-building processes and policy of inclusivity being done by PAP, among others.

    Receiving the award, Otuaro expressed appreciation to the youth leaders for recognising his modest contribution, which he noted would spur him to work harder.
    He told the youths that his only interest was to serve the people of the region, urging them to remain committed to peace-building and progress in the region and reject being used by merchants of instability and chaos.

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    Otuaro said: “I want to thank you for honouring me with an award in recognition of my service to the people of the Niger Delta. For me, it’s all about service to our people, and that’s what His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, wants.
    “I urge you to always work for the peace, security and stability of our region. We need peace in the region. The Niger Delta is our region, we have no other region.
    “So, you have a duty to safeguard the region from disruptive elements who are out cause destabilisation. I’m grateful for your gesture.”
    Leaders of the group from communities in the Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, said the recognition accorded the PAP boss was unanimous.
    They stated this while honouring Otuaro with an ‘Outstanding Excellence Award’ in recognition of his “commitment to providing outstanding service to the Niger Delta” at Okerenkoko during the New Year celebrations.
    The community youth leaders, including Famous Ololobou, Ijoukumor Oturubo and Samuel Ijeleba, who spoke separately, urged Otuaro to continue to do his best for the growth and development of the region, despite the unnecessary distractions by his detractors.

    According to them, those working against Otuaro were undermining President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda which the PAP helmsman was implementing through the programme to foster sustainable peace, stability and security in the region.

    They advised anti-Niger Delta elements to stop their ill-advised activities and allow peace to reign in the region.

  • Southsouth monarchs back Otuaro’s reforms in PAP

    Southsouth monarchs back Otuaro’s reforms in PAP

    Royal fathers under the auspices of the South-South Monarchs Forum (SSMF) have thrown their weight  behind the ongoing reforms in the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) by the scheme’s Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro.

    The monarchs applauded Otuaro for  repositioning the programme for greater and better service delivery to the Niger Delta people.

    The first-class traditional rulers’ body particularly commended Otuaro for his robust policy of stakeholders’ engagements aimed at strengthening the peacebuilding process and development in the Niger Delta.

    Chairman of the SSMF and former Minister of Petroleum Resources, His Royal Majesty, King Edmund Daukoru, spoke during the forum’s  meeting with Otuaro at the weekend.

    A statement signed by Otuaro’s Special Assistant Media, Igoniko Oduma, said the meeting held at the instance of the forum at the Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council secretariat in Yenagoa.

    The statement also said that some Niger Delta youths comprising members of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Central Zone, and Phases Two and Three of PAP staged a solidarity rally in the Bayelsa State capital to express their support for the leadership of Otuaro and the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

    IYC’s National Director of mobilisation, Harry Fubara, and the Central Zone Chairman, Perekosufa Ineife, warned sponsors of negative campaigns against Otuaro to stop their ill-advised activities, noting that the PAP Administrator had achieved a lot since he was appointed.

    Daukoru was quoted as saying that Otuaro’s practical approach to stakeholder engagement was a testament to his desire to serve the region.

    Daukoru, who was represented by the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council, HRM King Bubaraye Dakolo, expressed approval of Otuaro’s appointment and his genuine effort to reinvigorate the programme for sustainable peace, security, and stability in the region.

    The royal fathers assured Otuaro that he would complete his tenure in office and urged his detractors to allow him to do his job.

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    Daukoru, who is the Amanyanabo of Nembe Kingdom, advised the Federal Government to dismiss calls from anti-Niger Delta elements to terminate the PAP,  stressing that the issues that necessitated the establishment of the programme had not been resolved.

    The former Secretary-General of OPEC noted that Otuaro had, since assuming office, demonstrated a full understanding of his job and the programme’s mandate.

    He said: “You understand the Niger Delta and your coming here underscores that because you have chosen the path of dialogue, and meeting with all stakeholders at all levels. There is no better way to achieve peace and development in the Niger Delta. We want to applaud you very specially.

    “This time, it would not be like before when administrators did not finish their tenures. You will serve your term through. Furthermore, in the past, there had been an attempt by the Government of Nigeria to cancel out this programme. 

    “But we have always said that you cannot cancel out this programme. Because until peace is completely restored and all those youths have been trained and rehabilitated, even if you have spent N3 trillion, the aim has not been achieved.

    “So we cannot end a programme that was aimed at achieving a particular result when the result has not been achieved. We are using this opportunity to reiterate that the PAP must first of all achieve its mandate in full. We are here to ensure that that happens. So the Federal Government of Nigeria should allow you to lead the PAP to achieve that.

    “For those who have been disturbing everyone else, this (PAP administrator) is one person you should not disturb. You should allow him to do his job, which is to ensure that the Niger Delta people who are supposed to be rehabilitated are rehabilitated, not only on paper  but are practically trained and fully rehabilitated, and then peace is restored in the Niger Delta.”

    Several members of the SSMF from Akwa Ibom, Delta, and Rivers states, among others, such aa the Eze Gbakagbaka of Evo kingdom, HRM King Leslie Eke; the Pere of Akugbene-Mein kingdom, HRM King Pere Luke; and HRM King Ogurimerime Ukori, Ovie of Agbon kingdom, in their solidarity speeches, commended Otuaro for hitting the ground running.

    While thanking President Tinubu for appointing Otuaro, they also urged the PAP boss to remain focused on his job and not be distracted by those who did not mean well for the peace, economic growth, and security of the region.

    In his remarks, the PAP administrator stated that he was driven by passion and dedication for service to the people of the region, assuring the kings that President Tinubu was interested in the progress of the Niger Delta. 

    Otuaro pledged his commitment to reforms and deepening of his policies of stakeholder engagement, inclusivity, and continuity of the schemes that had been strategically reviewed due to the expanding scope of the programme.

    “I will always seek your majesties’ advice. I deemed it necessary to come and interact with you, my fathers, because that is the right thing to do. As revered traditional rulers under the auspices of the South-South Monarchs Forum, you mean the business of peace and development of the region,” he said.

  • PAP: Gbaramatu Chief Oluba hail Otuaro’s performance, positive plans

    PAP: Gbaramatu Chief Oluba hail Otuaro’s performance, positive plans

    The Chairman of Akpata-Gbegbe, an oil producing community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, Chief Timi Oluba, has applauded the performance recorded within a short period in office by Chief Dennis Otuaro, Administrator of Presidential Amnesty Programme PAP.

    Oluba, in a statement on Monday in Warri, Delta State, noted that Otuaro has shown that he is capable and competent to manage the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

    “Commendably, Chief Dennis Otuaro had repeatedly engaged and meet with Niger Delta stakeholders and ex-militants who are beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. He has secured their cooperation and support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

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    “Otuaro has engaged the Niger Delta women, and also consulting Traditional rulers in the region, seeking their support for Tinubu’s govt, and while also intimating them of his positive plans for the region,” he said.

    Oluba, an Ijaw Activist, thanked President Tinubu for the appointment of Otuaro as Administrator of Presidential Amnesty Programme, adding that Tinubu’s decision was right and commendable.

    The Gbaramatu Chief further warned mischief makers to desist from spreading false allegations against Otuaro, urging Otuaro to remain focused to his assignment.

    He expressed optimism that the Presidential Amnesty Programme will be transformed and repositioned to achieve the purpose for which the programme was established by former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

  • ‘Otuaro’s prudence in Amnesty reason for attack’

    ‘Otuaro’s prudence in Amnesty reason for attack’

    Head of Association of Family Mayoral Crown (AFMC), Eshanekpe Israel a.k.a Akpodoro, has said ‘reactionary elements’ are attacking Administrator of Presidential Amnesty Programme, Dennis Otuaro, for his prudent management as against past profligacy.

    Akpodoro, in a statement in Abuja, noted: “Gone were days the management spent millions of naira to celebrate birthdays’’, saying Otuaro knows rudiments of productive management.

    In his reaction to calls from “reactionaries to sack Otuaro, he said nothing could be more evil than to malign a reformer like Otuaro, who does things right and treat everyone under the programme equally. ‘‘

    The programme, Akpodoro said, suffered years of looting from past managers and their collaborators.

    He noted that some persons positioned themselves to grandstand and loot the office but unfortunately, they found Otuaro impervious, building a strong and  reliable Amnesty.

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    National Coalition of Strategic Governance (NCSG), had, in a petition to President Bola Tinubu and National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, signed by its Publicity Secretary, Kola Mustafa, called for  suspension of Otuaro for ‘very ridiculous reasons.’

    He noted that the faceless, group is making “vain efforts at disparaging the Amnesty boss”, saying “we know the sponsor of the lies. It is borne out of envy against Chief Government Ekpemukpolo a.k.a Tomopolo  and his Tantita Security Services through which former untouchables were chased out of the business of oil theft.”

    He called on  the President to discountenance such “puerile and badly concocted self-serving petition…”

    Ribadu, Akpodoro said, is vast in security expertise to discern the inherent evils in the mind of the acclaimed author.

  • PAP boss dedicates award to Tinubu, hails commitment to students

    PAP boss dedicates award to Tinubu, hails commitment to students

    The Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr Dennis Otuaro, an award of Icon of Community Development he bagged fro students to President Bola Tinubu.

    Otuaro, who urged students to always demonstrate patriotism and commitment to the development and unity of the country, hailed the President for his commitment to students’ welfare.

    Otuaro spoke  at the inaugural National Tech Summit themed “Empowering Nigerian Students Through Tech.

    A statement  by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Igoniko Oduma, said the PAP boss stressed that the country’s future lied in the hands of the youths.

    The summit was organised by the leaderships of the National Association of University Students (NAUS), National Association of Polytechnics Students (NAPS) and  National Association of Colleges of Education Students (NACES) and sponsored  by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

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    The amnesty boss encouraged students across the country to realise that their dedication and hard work, among others, were the catalysts for the building of a secure, prosperous, peaceful and technologically-driven nation.

    Otuaro, who was represented by his Special Assistant on Special Duties, Dinyain Tuebi, described education and technological empowerment were critical pillars for national growth and development.

    He also urged the students to take leadership seriously and embody the values of integrity, service and excellence while contributing meaningfully to nation building.

    He insisted that the students remained the pillars of the country’s future  and must be conscious of their critical place in the nation’s existence. 

    He lauded the joint leaderships of the NAUS, NAPS and NANCES for the summit, adding that the initiative showed their shared vision of using technology to advance their education and future careers.

    The PAP boss thanked the student bodies for the award “who have been working tirelessly to foster peace, stability and development in our beloved nation.”

    He said: “This summit embodies the spirit of resilience, creativity and determination that is synonymous with the Nigerian student. As you embark on this journey of exploration and learning, today, I encourage you to remain steadfast in your studies, patriotic in actions, and committed to the growth and unity of Nigeria.

    “The future of our nation lies in your hands, and it is through your dedication and hard work that we will continue to build a prosperous, peaceful and technologically advanced Nigeria.”

    In his address, the President of NAUS, Marshal Obaji, explained that the summit was geared towards addressing the technological skill gap among Nigerian students and graduates and providing adequate mentorship for interested young minds in emerging tech fields, innovation and networking opportunities.