Princewill Demian
19 January 2018, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Presidential Amnesty Office announced that it has empowered 21,805 ex-militants out of the 30,000 granted amnesty by the Federal Government in 2009.
The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and the Chairman of Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd), said this in a statement signed by Ms. Stella Inametti, Media and Communication Dept, PAP, Abuja.
Inametti quoted Boroh as disclosing this when he met with stakeholders from the region and presented a score card of the programme.
The special adviser said that the programme was yet to empower 8,195 ex-militants out of the 30,000 that were granted amnesty in 2009.
Boroh said that the Federal Government sponsored programme has been rated to be on course in its mandate of providing peace and stabilising the Niger Delta security environment through its training and empowerment of ex-militants.
While mentioning some of the noble achievements of his Office, he said, “We have successfully trained a total of 21,805 amnesty beneficiaries in both our local and overseas universities and in vocational training institutions within and outside Nigeria.
He said, “Some of the beneficiaries were trained as pilots, marine engineers, oil and gas engineers medical doctors, lawyers among others. They have become valuable generation of skilled youths that are contributing positively to national development.
“Also, in line with the government economic diversification policy, large numbers of our trained delegates are now empowered and deployed into various fields of agriculture and its value chain in order to revamp Nigerian economy,”
The Presidential aide said the services of 131 offshore universities/institutions were engaged to train 1,723 and from these foreign institutions. He also said that 1,523 have graduated with a balance of 200 that would graduate in 2018.
He said that 1,054 ex-militants have graduated from Nigerian universities and there is a balance caseload of 2,843 that are at various stages of their scholarship programme and majority will graduate in 2018.
The coordinator added that the services of 200 local and foreign Skills Acquisition Centres were utilised to train 15,140 beneficiaries.
Boroh said under the post training empowerment, 4,203 have been empowered and assisted to establish their own businesses.
The presidential aide noted that they are now entrepreneurs helping to provide gainful employments to other youths in the region.
On his 2018 programme plans, he stated that his office would continue to deepen its agricultural empowerment programme in line with the federal government’s green alternative initiative and use it to create jobs for youths.
The special adviser revealed that training of delegates has commenced in cluster farms in the nine oil producing states.
He said the office has projected to empower and create 10,000 new farms owners, who will then employ 40,000 farm workers.
According to him, their logistics and processing agricultural value chain will also create additional 30,000 new jobs, thus making our Agricultural empowerment scheme to provide 80,000 new jobs.
Boroh further revealed that his office has concluded discussions with a trawler company, the Greek Fisheries Institute to use the Burutu sea port in Delta to train and engage 1000 ex-militants into commercial aquaculture fishing business.
The special adviser said that the Amnesty office produced 500 bags of rice from its agriculture revolution initiative.
He stated that the rice was produced by ex-agitators, adding that the initiative was one of the best programmes so far in his administration.
