Security is key in solving Niger Delta challenges ----Boroh
(Nigeria) The Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty
Programme, Brig.-Gen Paul Boroh (retd), has said that security was key in
solving the challenges of the Niger Delta region.
Boroh said this at a two-day technical workshop on Tuesday
in Abuja.
The theme of the exercise was, "Niger Delta: Way
forward: From stabilisation to sustainable development in the Niger Delta Region.''
He said the amnesty office was working very closely with
stakeholders, including the Ministry of Interior and its agencies, to promote
security and boost skills utilisation to close existing development gaps in the
area.
"The Presidential Amnesty Programme is anxious to work
with all organisations and strategic partners, including international ones to
achieve the objectives of the Amnesty Programme." he stated.
According to the coordinator, the successes achieved in the on-going
re-integration phase of the programme included the empowerment of 2,500
ex-agitators and the full employment of 400 others.
He further said that the amnesty office had on December 4,
2015, engaged 78 vendors to empower an additional 1,225 amnesty beneficiaries.
Boroh said the empowerment would lead to the exit of the
beneficiaries from the programme which would save the government N955.5 million
annually in stipend payments.
He said those trained and empowered would create employment
opportunities in the Niger Delta region.
The coordinator said that its office recently carried out
verification to ascertain the exact number of beneficiaries under its
scholarship scheme.
"This is to examine its success and streamline the
scheme in line with the reintegration stage of the amnesty programme.''
A total of 3,849 students in 22 countries are to be
screened. Among those to be screened are 2,789 students in 28 institutions of
higher learning in the country.
"So far, 293 of the students have graduated. There are
1,060 students in 131 schools across 22 countries to be screened. Under the
scheme, 202 graduates from foreign schools are to be verified."
According to him, the scholarship is part of the human
capacity building under the programme which has the 30,000 beneficiaries.
The coordinator said the programme negotiated by Nigerian
authorities and militants presented a unique window of opportunity to bring
peace, stability and economic development to the nine oil producing states on
the Niger Delta region.
''The amnesty programme is one of the major reasons for the
reduction of criminality, kidnapping, oil bunkering and other vices in the
Niger Delta.''
He said that several international partners had indicated
interest in the programme and were waiting for plans and programmes of the
office to make their developmental inputs (N
Comments
Post a Comment