Uyo – Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has called for re-appraisal of the training programmes offered to the Niger Delta ex-militants under the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
Emmanuel made the call when the Coordinator of the Niger Delta Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boro, paid him a courtesy visit in Uyo on Wednesday.
The governor noted that any training given to ex-militants should empower them to deploy the knowledge gained for self-sustainability and economic development.
Emmanuel suggested that the training should address the local content demands of the Nigerian society especially in the oil- bearing communities.
He said any training that did not make the ex-militants fit in well in the oil industry was inadequate and unacceptable.
The governor suggested that the Amnesty Programme should liaise with the National Directorate of Employment for the development of training schemes for the ex-militants.
He also called on the companies operating in the coastal communities to devise modalities for dialogue to address environmental degradation as one of the causes of agitations.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
Emmanuel noted that the relative calm enjoyed in the area could be attributed to the monthly stipends paid to the agitators.
He then called for sustainable measures to make them earn a living outside government’s support and also prevent them from going back to the creeks in future.
The governor expressed satisfaction with the decision of the Amnesty Programme to establish offices in the Niger Delta states for quick intervention in crisis period.
Earlier, the Coordinator, Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boro, said the delegation was in Akwa Ibom to seek collaboration towards successful disengagement, disarmament and reintegration of the ex-militants.
He said the amnesty programme, set up in 2009, had disarmed 425 agitators out of which 368 had been trained in different skills.
Boro said the programme would create state offices to allow for collaboration with the military, paramilitary and other security agencies to achieve complete reintegration of the ex-militants.
He commended the state government’s decision to create jobs through massive engagement of youths in agriculture, describing agriculture as the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy. (NAN)
