Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has called for adequate funding of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) to ensure it functions optimally.
Diri made this call on Friday when he received the PAP Administrator, Dr. Dennis Otuaro, and his delegation at Government House, Yenagoa.
The governor emphasized that funding is critical to the programme’s survival.
A statement by Daniel Alabrah, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, quoted Diri as advocating for collaboration among state governments and National Assembly members from the Niger Delta to address the programme’s funding challenges.
The governor stressed that funding was critical for the survival of the programme.
He advocated the need for state governments and National Assembly members from the Niger Delta to collaborate towards addressing the funding challenges of the PAP.
He said: “There is no place that will survive without funds. These are some of the issues that we as governors can also support in ensuring that our National Assembly members make the contacts and synergise so that these issues will not be left for you alone to handle.”
He advised Dr Otuaro to build linkages across relevant state governments within the region to ensure that the programme made a meaningful impact, noting that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) also faces similar challenges, which had affected its activities.
Diri advised Dr. Otuaro to build connections across relevant state governments in the region to ensure the programme makes a meaningful impact, noting that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) also faces similar challenges that have affected its activities.
The Bayelsa governor criticized those calling for the programme’s cancellation, stating that the issues leading to its establishment are still prevalent.
According to him, despite the transition to renewable energy, crude oil production remains vital to the nation’s economy, and he advocated for the programme’s continuation.
Providing a brief history of the armed struggle of the Ijaw people, beginning with Jasper Adaka Boro, Diri said, “The Ijaws, for a long time, have been suffocated in a structure to which they have given their all in terms of human and natural resources. Over the years, there has been a long cry of neglect and underdevelopment.
“The initial armed struggle in Ijawland was essentially a fight for justice and development. The community of Oloibiri in Bayelsa State, where crude oil was first struck in commercial quantity in 1956, is now a shadow of itself.
“Nothing was reinvested into Oloibiri, which generated trillions of naira for Nigeria.
“I would like my brothers from other states to recognize that amnesty was not a gift to the Niger Delta but a means to bring relief to a people who had been abandoned.”
While commending previous administrators of the programme for establishing training centers across the region, the governor lamented the vandalism at the training center in Kaiama, in the Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of the state, and urged Otuaro to restore it.
In his remarks, the PAP Administrator requested the support of the state government in funding its training programmes.
In his remarks, the PAP Administrator requested the support of the state government in funding its training programmes.
Otuaro stated that the programme is currently in the rehabilitation and reintegration phase, and there is a need to consult all relevant stakeholders to ensure its success.
He noted that from 2014, funding for the programme was reduced by half, while its scope expanded, particularly with 1,681 students enrolled in tertiary institutions in the country and 38 students studying abroad.
Otuaro also disclosed that 98 maritime cadets have recently been deployed within the country, stressing the need to expand the programme to accommodate women stakeholders who are business-oriented.
He applauded Diri for his administration’s efforts in maintaining peace in Bayelsa, adding that the Ijaw people are pleased with the prevailing peace and security, as Bayelsa is the homeland of all Ijaws.
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