By Abujah Racheal
Abuja – Brig- Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd), Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta has urged the nine oil producing states to employ their beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
Boroh made the appeal in a statement signed by Mr Owei Lakemfa, the Media and Communication Consultant of PAP in Abuja on Thursday. The special adviser commended Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo for making moves to provide employment for PAP beneficiaries in the state.
Boroh, who is also the Coordinator of PAP, said such an approach would be a game changer in the resolution of youth restiveness in the region.
“Governor Obaseki’s move is a fundamental one in sustainably reintegrating aggrieved youths who six years ago, had taken the amnesty offer of the Federal Government,’’ he said.
Boroh disclosed that his office had submitted a list of 1,416 ex-agitators who need training and empowerment or employment to Obaseki.
According to him, the list includes 213 scholarship graduates and 466 other persons.
Boroh, however, urged governments of oil producing states to consider keying into the programme by assisting their youths.
The special adviser restated that PAP was not open-ended one and all beneficiaries would have to eventually exit the programme.
The coordinator commended governments of the oil producing states for their unquantifiable support to PAP.
He said that the visit of the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to Edo had further cemented ties between the people in the region and the Federal Government.
“If the amount of empathy, concern and commitment to the people in the region and their plight shown by the Buhari administration had been shown by past governments, there would have been no reason for agitations in the region.
“All what the people require and are asking for is basic development and understanding which is what the Buhari administration is offering,’’ he said.
Boroh also acknowledged the Federal Government’s decision to get all contractors who had abandoned projects in the region to go back to work and fulfill their obligations.
He also commended Osinbajo for the fatherly manner with which he handled the Town Hall Meeting in Edo.
Boroh said that the peaceful resolution of the youth protests which led to the continuation of the meeting was a positive lesson for leaders at various levels in the country.
