By Emmanuel Nduka and Ere-ebi Agedah
The recent decision of the Nigerian Government to sustain the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for ex-agitators in the Niger Delta region has continued to generate reactions from Nigerians.
Heritage Times (HT) had recently articulated the capacity and track record of the new PAP Interim Administrator, Major General Barry Tariye Ndiomu who was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in September.
Speaking as guest on Arise Television on Tuesday, Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst, Liborous Oshoma commended the current administration for rescinding on its earlier decision to wind down the Amnesty Programme.
Buhari’s gesture, he noted, now poses a task ahead for Gen. Ndiomu to drive sustainable “reintegration and engagement” of ex-agitators.
While noting that this was one of the main problems which has hindered the Programme from meeting its mandate, Oshoma added that PAP must also begin to pursue “empowerment” rather than just “entrepreneurial training.”
He called for refocus and redirection of the Amnesty Programme as a means to asserting effectiveness in handling youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region.
Oshoma further cautioned that the pattern of using money to solve problems in the country must be nipped in the bud.
“We throw money at every problem. We need to know how these monies are spent. There should be an end to throwing money at problems,” he said.
On providing amnesty to ‘repentant’ Boko Haram terrorists and Bandits in the North, he explained that the two scenarios are different, adding that despite government interventions, the ugly trend keeps increasing as their ideology cannot be solved through amnesty.
“We can see that the crisis in the Niger Delta through disarmament, rehabilitation, was controlled,” he said, adding that in the North, “kidnapping has not fazed out despite all Federal Government interventions and people keep going into it. I think government should do much more than just throwing rehabilitation.”
Similarly, Mojeed Dahiru, a Public Affairs Analyst who appeared on AIT Television and Raypower FM on Tuesday, noted that the Amnesty Programme largely calmed restiveness in the Niger Delta, as militants surrendered themselves in droves, and embraced the Programme.
This he said, boosted Nigeria’s crude oil output at the time, as the country’s major pipelines were no longer attacked.
He added that corruption, which had been the endemic problem of the PAP, must now be fought to forestall a resurgence of hostilities.
Dahiru called for massive human capital development in the region.
He regretted that over the years, the Programme has been used by those in charge as a personal tool to settle cronies, rather than solving the main problem.
The figure of ex-agitators currently listed under the PAP stands at 30,000. According to statistics seen on the official website of the Amnesty Office, 65 percent of the number are said to be currently undergoing training/schooling. 55 percent have been successfully reintegrated back into society, while 45 percent are waiting in queue.
The Programme was birthed in June 2009, under the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. The mandate was to disarm, demoblize, and reintegrate ex-agitators back into normal productive life.
