The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof . Charles Dokubo , has faulted suggestions that the Federal Government plans to terminate the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme soon .
The Special Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources , Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Mr . Charles Achodo , had said based on current economic realities , the scheme was no longer sustainable by the current administration.
Achodo made the assertion at the Sustainability in the Extractive Industries Conference in Abuja penultimate Monday , where he argued that amnesty could not be a solution to the insecurity in the Niger Delta.
He had said, “Rather , you use the amnesty to create an asymmetrical environment. A fragile environment does not like asymmetry; it likes more of a symmetrical response.”
But Dokubo , while faulting Achodo ’ s position in an interview , described the alternative to terminating the programme as “too ghastly to contemplate .”
He said, “If somebody said the programme is not sustainable , the person is not talking from my office and the person couldn’ t have known the way the programme has been designed to move.
“But I know that this programme is sustainable . I know the environment ; I know the security environment of the Niger Delta and how it has been sustained to this level where we have massive production of oil and all that .
“We’ ve also seen periods where we could not even get a million barrels; now , we have more than that . I know what the programme is going for and I know that after we have carried out enhancement, empowerment and also setting up clusters of farms and other training centres, we can sit back with satisfaction that we have done something . ”
He added that hitherto , there was a feeling of marginalisation that the Nigerian people took sides with the multinational oil companies to deprive the Niger Delta indigenes of education and the dividends of oil exploration .
According to him , though there might be some troubles, the scheme beneficiaries will be trained to a level that they can see themselves as equal to anybody in any part of Nigeria and be employable .
“The alternative will be too ghastly to contemplate , ” he added .
Dokubo noted that the programme started well but that with time , it was driven by other demands that made it lose impact .
“What I am doing now is to refocus the amnesty programme so that it could positively impact those who are meant to be catered for and you know that on my own, I can’ t do it . That was why I initially made an attempt to meet the critical stakeholders— that is , the Big Five , ” said the amnesty boss , who did not disclose the identities of the Big Five .
“I think it was the first time in the programme that the Big Five had come to sit down with me and agree that they are going to drive my programme .
“For me, that was the best thing I have ever done; that I could bring these Big Five, talk to them, listen to them , and put forward the programme that I have developed during the period of my appointment .
They all bought into that idea and are willing to push it forward. ”
Dokubo stated that the President ’ s main objective was to ensure increased security and youth empowerment in the region.
He stated , “The fact is that to maintain the existing peace in the region is quite important for our function . If there ’ s a crisis in the region, then, basically all we are putting in place will not work .
“You have oil revenue increasing and the Federal Government has some more money to pay into the amnesty programme to also empower our people by training them and giving them the requisite skills to perform well in an economy that is open .
“If that is done, for me, I would have achieved all that I want in the programme .”
The presidential adviser, however , believed that it was not economically wise to send beneficiaries of the programme to foreign institutions when the courses they had applied to study were available in Nigerian educational institutions.
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