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Tag: Presidential Amnesty Programme

  • Boroh urges children to imbibe good values

    Boroh urges children to imbibe good values

    Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (Rtd), the Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), on Saturday called on Nigerian children to imbibe the values of discipline, honesty, cleanliness and healthy ambition.

    Boroh told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the call became necessary in view of the special place of children as the future of the nation.

    Boroh, who is also the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, spoke on the occasion of the Children Day celebration.

    “These values will make a good citizen out of a child and each priceless value is gained from home, which is the child’s first school and foundation.

    “Children tend to learn these qualities at home through observation, suggestion and influence,” he said.

    The presidential aide said that parents and guardians play a major role in shaping their children’s future.

    To this end, he stressed the need for proper education which, according to him, plays a major role in developing a child’s mental faculty.

    “To educate means to train the mind, character and abilities of individuals.

    “Education is a fundamental human right that should be availed to all citizens irrespective of age, sex and nationality.

    “There are a lot of human right instruments that provide for education as a fundamental right, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)”.

    He explained that the importance of education in the life of a child could never be overemphasized.

    “In both spiritual and temporal or mundane aspects of human existence, education is paramount,’’ Boroh added.

    He further, described education as “the light that shows the way by removing the darkness of ignorance; the salt that gives the taste of life; the medicine that cures, and the key which open doors’’.

    He also reiterated the need for every child to respect and obey their parents and teachers, being the most important people molding their lives.

    On the occasion, he said that celebrating children’s day was the best way to commemorate and enjoy the best moments of childhood.

    “What could be more wonderful than dedicating an entire day to all children in this world?

    “It’s a day to honour the children as well as celebrate their parents, who show them great love and work passionately to ensure their welfare’’,.

    According to Boroh, Children’s Day is a day where every child unleashes themselves.

     

  • Amnesty office to collaborate with agro firm to train youths

    The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Office said it would collaborate with the American-West African Agro (AWAA) to train 500 ex-agitators from the Niger Delta in agriculture development.

    The Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (Rtd), made this known on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    Boroh said this was in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to diversify the economy and empower people from the region.

    He added that the project would revamp the economy, create massive jobs and food sufficiency in the Niger Delta region and country at large.

    “I would ensure that the partnership with AWAA takes into account knowledge-sharing and expertise in the field of agriculture, including the entrepreneurial interest of the beneficiaries,’’ he said.

    Boroh said PAP would continue to collaborate with different stakeholders in the agriculture sector towards training and retraining of Niger Delta people to ensure jobs, food security and wealth creation.

    “The Amnesty office is still working in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that Nigerians should shift attention from oil to non-oil income, especially agriculture, to revamp the country’s economy.

    “I want to acknowledge AWAA agricultural exploits, and collaborating with them will add value to the Amnesty Programme and will be of immense benefit to its beneficiaries,’’ he said.

  • Osibanjo’s visit to Ondo state rescheduled for Monday

    The much celebrated visit of the Acting President Yemi Osibanjo to Ondo State has been rescheduled till next week Monday.

    Osibanjo, who was expected in the state Friday for a stakeholders meeting with the people from the Niger Delta communities in state, on eleventh hour, cancelled his trip due to poor weather.

    The Acting President was also expected to commission some projects including the International Event Centre, Dome in Akure done by the outgoing governor, Olusegun Mimiko

    Already, the acting President’s advanced team and the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig Gen Paul Boroh have arrived the state.

    Also, as early as 9.am, the Dome, which was awaiting presidential commissioning, has been filled to the bream by dignitaries including traditional rulers, religion and political leaders, civil servants among others.

    Mimiko, who arrived the event centre, exactly 2.55pm, with Osibanjo’s aides after waiting patiently at the Akure airport, apologized on behalf the acting President.

    He said “let me thank you all, the acting President is a man that always stick to time.

    “He was stranded at Abuja Airport due to cloudy weather. Between 10.30am and 2pm, he was at the airport waiting for the weather to be cleared.

    “Acting President has resheduled his visit till Monday and he has directed his advanced team to remain in the state”.

  • FG targets 10,000 ex-militants for agric training 

    The Federal Government of Nigeria is to enroll 10,000 ex-militants in the Niger Delta to be trained in farming under its agricultural initiative at a bio-resource centre in Udi, Bayelsa State.

    Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig.-Gen. ‎Paul Boroh (retd.), stated this Tuesday at Uvwie, Ikpoba-Okha local government after inspecting a fish farm established as an empowerment tool for an ex-militant, Ruben Bibowe Opuobori,

    Brig-Gen Boroh said the project was part of ways to ensure a sustainable re-integration of ex-agitators with a view to resolving the conflict in the region.

    Boroh stated that President Muhammadu Buhari is commitment towards peace in the Niger Delta region by focusing on agriculture because it is the best alternative for the

    economy of the nation at the moment.

    He said those engaging in pipeline vandalism in the region were ignorant” of government’s efforts towards having a peaceful nation and vibrant economy.

    Boroh said, “The drive we are into now is on agriculture because agriculture captures three major items in life. Agriculture ensures that food is secured within the environment.

    “There will be job opportunities for those who have agriculture on their mind as well as increment in their financial position because they will be able to sell their farm products and make some money.”

    “That is why I am very happy to be here today, after deploring ex-agitators at the bio-resource centre in Odi, Bayelsa State.”

    “I want 10,000 of them to benefit from this project. Edo State is capturing 100. We will take it up all the way, across the entire Niger Delta; every state will benefit one way or the other.

    “Those people involved in pipeline vandalism are not beneficiaries of the programme. They are ignorant of what the Federal Government is doing.”

    Bibowei said the programme has given him a sense of direction and made him self-reliant.

    He said, “The project has done so much for me. It brought me out from the creeks and it has given me a direction. I advise them (militants) to come out and work with the Federal Government.

    Bibowe was provided with borehole, water tank, generator and a pond containing three compartments with one already stock with 1000 fingerlis.

  • Ex-Militants to Amnesty Coordinator: Stop bribing NASS members

    Ex-Militants to Amnesty Coordinator: Stop bribing NASS members

    Some ex-agitators in the Niger Delta region currently enrolled in the Presidential Amnesty Programme on Tuesday raised the alarm on a coordinated scheme by the leadership of the Programme to use huge sums of money from the Amnesty Office accounts to settle  members of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta.

    The Senate Committee is currently conducting investigative hearing on the Programme.

    The ex-militants decided to raise the alarm as leaders and critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta led by a former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Ckark, are billed to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, October 31,

    Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, the Amnesty Programme’s beneficiaries, who spoke under the aegis of the forum of Truly Transformed former Niger Delta Agitators (TTNDA), swore to drag the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) if he persists in the plot to use favoured contractors to move large sums of money out of the account of the Amnesty Office towards sharing the money to members of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta.

    The National President of the forum, Preye Bosco Amasoma said: “Out of respect for President Muhammadu Buhari, who we believe means well for Nigerians, including Niger Deltans, we have been tolerating the shortcomings of the current Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Brig-Gen Paul Boroh (rtd); we have been tolerating his incompetence but we will not accept this extremely corrupt scheme that he is hatching using the name of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta,”

    “Very reliable and courageous staff of the Amnesty Office have informed us and have even shown us series of documents, including vouchers of urgent and sudden payments to some contractors being used for this scheme.

    “These contractors are in turn placed under immense pressure to pull out the money to help Boroh settle members of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta led by Senator Peter Nwoboshi,” the National President of TTNDA alleged.

    The group also said that they were compelled to speak out given the reluctance or inability of the Buhari administration to discipline the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme in spite of the plethora of administrative and financial maleficence that have been linked to him.

    He said: “For a man who has not paid us our monthly stipend for four months and has not paid delegates in training centres across the country for several months, to be using contractors to pile up money for himself and some so-called Senators, is a shame and the EFCC and President Buhari himself will hear this matter. This is the era of total war against corruption and there must be no sacred cow.

    “Any time we ask for our money, all they tell us is that the Amnesty Office is under immense pressure from the Senate Committee on Niger Delta and that all the available money is going into settling the members of this committee. Is this fair, especially this season that President Buhari has launched a full-blown war against corruption?

    “If the President does not put a stop to the thieving currently going on at the Amnesty Office under his aide, Paul Boroh, we will consider taking to the streets of Abuja in protest,” Bosco Amasoma, who was flanked by several members of his group, said at the Press Conference in Gwarimpa, Abuja.

    The Senate Committee on Niger Delta, which is currently conducting investigative hearing on the Amnesty Programme, held a public hearing two weeks ago where several persons claimed they were ex-agitators from the Niger Delta who were unjustly excluded from the programme.

    The aggrieved groups included youths from the Ndokwa ethnic nationality in Delta State.

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Peter Nwoboshi, had at the public hearing frowned at the purported exclusions and directed the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Paul Boroh, to write to the President to secure requisite approvals to include the youths in the Amnesty Programme.

    However, at the public hearing Senator Peter Nwoboshi announced that the committee had decided to schedule a later date to meet with contractors handling training or capital projects for the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

    The Niger Delta ex-agitators protesting “reckless spending” at the Amnesty Office at the press conference in Abuja alleged that Senator Nwoboshi was acting out a script he co-wrote with the Amnesty Programme’s Coordinator, Paul Boroh.

    “Since when did Senate Committees began staggering public hearings on one issue. The delay by the Senate Committee in discussing issues related to contracts awarded by the Amnesty Office is just to buy time for Boroh to intimidate his account staff and contractors to structure out more money for the Senate Committee on Niger Delta.

    “The truth however is that the bulk of the money raised from contractors usually goes to Boroh and some amount possibly go to members of the Senate Committee,” the forum’s President alleged.

    He added: “Well, we stand to be proved wrong by members of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta. All we are saying is that the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme is using the name of the committee to award phony and urgent contracts and money is being extorted  from the beneficiaries of the contracts.

    “So, we are challenging the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta to come out boldly to declare to Nigerians that they are not involved in this dangerous scheme at a time President Buhari is ruthlessly fighting corruption,” the President of TTNDA added

    To buttress their claim, the leadership of the forum of Truly Transformed Niger Delta ex-agitators, showed Journalists who attended the press conference, a letter purportedly written to the Amnesty Office by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Senator Peter Nwoboshi wherein he introduced to Paul Boroh the firm of Candour Capital Limited as the duly appointed consultant of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta charged by the committee to “conduct the inspection and investigation of the books and accounts of the Presidential Amnesty Programme from inception to date.”

    In the letter, Senator Nwoboshi further informed the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme that the firm of Candour Capital Limited “will report (at the Amnesty Office) for the assignment on Tuesday 25th October 2016” and urged the Amnesty Coordinator “to grant the consultants maximum cooperation and support to enable them perform and deliver urgently the required report for the Committee to finalise its mandate”

    The ex-agitators however queried the propriety of subjecting what they say are very sensitive national security documents to the firm of Candour Capital Limited.

    “The whole thing is a scam. What level of security clearance has this private company received to qualify it to have full and unfettered access to a national security programme like the Presidential Amnesty Programme? I pity this country,” the leader of the transformed Niger Delta ex-agitators stated.

  • Boroh to youths: join FG to develop Niger Delta

    Boroh to youths: join FG to develop Niger Delta

     

    The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh, (retd), on Friday, asked warring youths in the Niger Delta region to sheathe their swords and join the Federal Government to develop the region.

    Boroh further said that the amnesty office had changed focus from being a free-cash donor to an agent of development and agricultural revolution in the Niger Delta region.

    Boroh reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to diversify the economy through agricultural revolution and stop over-dependence on oil.

    He lamented that over-dependence on oil-rich Niger Delta only succeeded in making Nigeria a mono-economy.

    He said oil has brought destruction of the ecosystem, poverty, starvation and resource-based conflicts in the region.

    Speaking after inspecting facilities at the Bio Resources Development Centre, Odi, Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, Boroh said that 500 ex-militants from the Niger Delta would be trained in various agro-related skills.

    According to him the amnesty office has changed focus and no longer a place to share free money.

    He urged the youths of the Niger Delta to embrace the new change and join hands with the government to make the Niger Delta, the agricultural hub of the nation.

    He said the ex-militants would be sent to Songhai Farms in Delta State and various agricultural programmes and departments of the Delta State University (DELSU), University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), and the Peremabiri Rice Farms in Bayelsa state.

    Boroh stressed that President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was pursuing drastic diversification of the economy using agriculture as the best alternative.

    He said: “The shift from reliance on agriculture to over-reliance on oil income has had a tremendous impact on agriculture and the localities where crude petroleum is found and has become the harbinger of hunger, starvation, unemployment and ecosystem degradation and that is the bottom line of the resource-base conflict in the Niger Delta.

    “President Buhari has embarked on drastic diversification of the economy from oil and gas dependence and agriculture provides the nation the opportunity for growth, investment, wealth and job creation.

    “To successfully address the imperative of diversification, promotion of peace and development in the Niger and achieving Mr. President’s agenda on peace and development we are collaborating with various institutions within and outside the country to train our youths in various agricultural-related fields.”

    Presenting certificates to some graduating students of the center, the amnesty boss described the center as a blessing to the region and urged the people to take advantage of it.

    In his remarks, the Director of the Centre, Mr. Josiah Habu, said that it was an establishment of the Federal Government to provide scientific and technical knowledge to improve agricultural production in the country.

    Since its establishment in 2003, the Director, said the center has been rolling out key bio-enterprises and building capacity of entrepreneurs in agro-related business, human and financial management, information technology and many others.