FORMER AGITATORS IMPRESS LATE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR's COMPATRIOT

 Who says pleasant surprises are in short supply in the amnesty programme? Yesterday's violent agitators are before our very eyes becoming today's peace advocates and campaigners.

Today (Tuesday, 27 November, 2012 ), leaders of former Niger Delta agitators undergoing the Kingian Non-Violence/Leadership and Business Development Training in South Africa practically waoh-ed renowned American non-violence advocate, Dr Bernard LaFayette Jr., a compatriot and close associate of the late civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King Jr., with their understanding of the Kingian non-violence principle.

The leaders had made brilliant presentations (yes, 'Generals' in training) after their individual groups discussion on leadership values and non-violence principles. For this, they got a standing 'shake, shake, shake' from their trainers from the Foundation for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (FEHN).

But hear Dr LaFayette: "I'm very impressed with your understanding of the concept of non-violence. You have all shown a very good grasp of the training you have received in just the first day. With what I see in these young men, there's hope for Nigeria.

"Already, I'm considering asking some of you to become trainers in non-violence principles (Another post-training engagement prospect, you would say). What that means is that you will join me to take this message to other parts of Africa and the world."

The training continues tomorrow.

The delegation (first batch of 31 leaders) will later visit places like the Nigeria High Commission in Pretoria, the aviation training schools in Mafikeng and Midrand, Cape Town, Soweto, and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, before returning to Nigeria.


DANIEL ALABRAH
Tuesday, 27 November, 2012

AMNESTY TRAINEES DESIGN VOLTAGE REGULATOR

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA

PRESIDENTIAL AMNESTY PROGRAMME

 

AMNESTY TRAINEES DESIGN VOLTAGE REGULATOR

 

Trainees under the Presidential Amnesty Programme for Niger Delta youths have recorded yet another feat, this time in Ghana as they have designed an electrical equipment that regulates power voltage.

 

Known as the Magnetic Box, it regulates low and high voltage with a built-in timer.

The equipment was among several other products displayed by the trainees at a mini-exhibition during their graduation from the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) in Accra.

 

One hundred and ninety eight (198) delegates underwent training in Welding and Fabrication, Electrical Installation, Auto Mechanic, and Plumbing/Pipe Fitting at five centres across the country.

 

Speaking at the event, an elated Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Ghana, Ambassador Ademola Onafowokan, said the feat achieved by the trainees was “another milestone in Nigeria’s endeavor to create a pool of skilled individuals.”

 

The envoy, who paid glowing tributes to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua for the amnesty initiative, said the graduates are living testimonies to the laudable vision of the Nigerian government.

 

“President Goodluck Jonathan and other Nigerians are very proud of these youths who have demonstrated resilience and hard work,” the High Commissioner said.

 

He advised them to synergise and work together to become self-reliant entrepreneurs and employers of labour with the skills they have acquired.

 

Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta/Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, in his remarks, equally commended the trainees for their invention and innovativeness.

 

His words: “Many youths in the Niger Delta did not believe in the amnesty offer but you did. Today, some of your former colleagues are also in various institutions in Nigeria and overseas.

 

“The fact is that the amnesty programme is a success. Unfortunately, this has resulted in fresh agitation by youths in the Niger Delta who want to be part of the programme. Every day, youths in the region protest just because they want to belong to the programme. Now its success has become our albatross,” the PAP chairman said.

 

While thanking the Ghanaian government for its support for the programme, Hon. Kuku advised the graduates to think about how to be self-employed in partnership with their colleagues.

 

“Your vision should not be to look for government job,” he added even as he assured those who want to be entrepreneurs that the Amnesty Office will support them with tools and start-up packages.

 

Earlier, the NVTI Executive Director, Mr Stephen Amponsah, said the institute was happy to be a part of Nigeria’s effort to empower its youths through vocational skills.

 

According to him, vocational training is important to national development as it can stem the tide of criminal activities as well as alleviate poverty and generate employment.

 

Responding on behalf of the graduates, Mr Amachree Otelemaba, said they were initially skeptical about the amnesty programme.

 

“We thank President Goodluck Jonathan and our big brother, Hon. Kuku, for this opportunity given to us. We never knew the programme will be a success but we decided to try. Now we have been trained and have acquired skills in different areas, which will make us better in life,” he said.

 

Otelemaba appealed to the Nigerian government to create opportunities for engagement so they can put to use the skills acquired.

 

Dignitaries at the event included former Deputy Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Hon. Chibudom Nwuche, Senator David Brigidi, Ghana’s Minister of Interior, who was represented by Mr Sam Amankwah, Mr T.K. Gyau, and the Dean, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ghana/Chairman, NVTI Board, Prof. Richard Bani.

 

DANIEL ALABRAH

HEAD, MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS

PRESIDENTIAL AMNESTY OFFICE

November 17, 2012

TIME FOR BIG BUSINESS IN NIGER DELTA- BY DANIEL ALABRAH

 http://newsdiaryonline.com/time-for-big-business-in-niger-delta-by-daniel-alabrah/

Following a memorandum by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on the growth and industrialization of the oil producing states in Nigeria, the Federal Government recently approved 44 projects for the Niger Delta. According to the Information Minister, Labaran Maku, the projects include the construction of roads, bridges (and) environmental projects as part of the phased development of the region. The projects are expected to spur economic development of the region.
The move represents a welcome response to calls on the Federal Government to apply the resounding success of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) as a lever for the limitless economic, industrial and social changes in the Niger Delta. The argument is that if peace is the outcome of amnesty, there must be a progression that we must refer to as the fallout of peace. The process does not terminate at the point where we have drawn on amnesty to achieve a cessation of hostilities and attained calm in the region.
There must be a continuum where the new thesis of peace must also give birth to a new set of enterprises. We must relate amnesty to the rubric of dialectics. Only then can we understand the full potential and advantages of what the scheme has offered the country and its citizens.
If the pre-amnesty era produced in the Niger Delta a horde of armed lords and their acolytes that were protesting the hijack of their God-given resources and the resultant clashes between them and the state crippled the nation’s economy and scared local and foreign investors, it follows that a post-amnesty era must logically have its own soil (conditions) of productive (non-destructive) result. We must see the Federal Government’s move on these 44 projects in the Niger Delta in that dialectical light.
Amnesty’s peace is not peace for the sake of peace. It is a soil in which we must sow seeds of development and investment. It is a soil from which will arise “a strong manufacturing base… so that we could offer opportunities for employment, innovations and dignified living to all Nigerians,” according to the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku. The Niger Delta should now be the fulcrum of the country’s industrial development and partnership with foreign investors, thanks to amnesty.
To get an objective appreciation of what this piece is about, let us look at the pattern of Chinese economic intervention in Africa in recent years. China has been initiating apex-level contact with the continent lately. Recently, President Hu Jintao led economic-cum-diplomatic delegations to at least five African nations. He was in Nigeria, Tanzania, Mauritius, Senegal and Mali. A close check revealed that some of these were societies in transition, where after conflict resulting from challenges in nation-building, a definite path is now being chosen as an enduring foundation for progress.
The Chinese are a calculating lot. They engage in business in societies that have potential for growth; where there is peace and stability along with the generous provision of renewable resources and sustainable energy. Amnesty has the paved way for Nigeria to assume these magnets for investments. It is conceivable, therefore, that the Chinese, whose country has effectively emerged as the world’s second biggest economic player, would see Niger Delta’s bouquet of developmental invectives through the amnesty programme and the Federal Government’s initiative as a green light to invest in the area.

RIVERS: Ex-agitators Donate Relief Materials To Flood Victims

 

SUNDAY, 04 NOVEMBER 2012 00:00 FROM ANN GODWIN, PORT HARCOURT SUNDAY MAGAZINE - CITYFILE

 

TOUCHED by the effects of the raging flood in the Niger Delta, ex-agitators have raised N52.7 million among themselves to assist displaced victims. The amount was contributed by the 26,358 former militants, who were granted amnesty by the Federal Government.

The Guardian gathered that the group decided to give up N2,000 each from their monthly stipend in order to procure relief materials and help ameliorate the suffering of flood victims in the region.

Investigations at the various camps in Rivers State revealed there were inadequate mattresses, especially for children and pregnant women. There is also lack of potable water, shortage of foodstuff and toiletries.

At the camps, some of the inmates suffered mostly from diarrhea, malaria, pneumonia, cough, catarrh, and complications of anaemia and malnutrition.

Last week, in Ula-Upata Camp of Ahoada East local government area, a baby of about two years died of severe anaemia, as confirmed by doctors at the Ahoada General Hospital. This is due mostly to the over-crowded, poor living and sanitary conditions in the camp, as many children sleep on the bare floor or on thin sheets, which do not protect them from the cold tiled floor of the Model Primary School, recently built by the state.

Apparently concerned by the plight of victims, the ex-militants used the money they raised to procure items ranging from bags of rice, beans, garri, palm oil, tin tomatoes, toiletries, cartons of indomie noodles, mattresses, and treated mosquito nets, among others.

Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty, Kingsley Kuku, while handing over the relief materials loaded in two trucks to the Rivers State Ministry of Special Duties, described the donation by the ex-agitators as exceptional and a great sacrifice, noting that some wealthy Nigerians had not considered it necessary to extend their care and love to the displaced; rather it was people who were written off that deemed it fit to lead the way in demonstrating genuine concern to the victims.

Represented by the Head, Reintegration Department and Technical Assistant of the Office of the Special Adviser, Lawrence Pepple, Kuku explained that similar items would be delivered to Bayelsa, Edo, Delta and Cross River states. “We are distributing the materials procured by the ex-militants according to the ratio of the worst affected areas from the statistics of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA),” Kuku said.

While frowning at the alleged diversion of materials in various camps across the region, the presidential adviser noted that the relief items were procured directly by a committee set up by the Amnesty Office to avoid mismanagement of the funds.    He urged state governments in the region to ensure transparency in the distribution of the items donated, stressing that the gesture was a huge sacrifice from the ex-agitators.

The state Commissioner for Special Duties, Mr. Emeka Nwogu, who received the items, expressed surprise at the gesture, saying he did not expect to receive such volume of materials from the ex-agitators.

“I am surprised getting these quantity of relief materials from the ex-militants. These are people who had been written off while some big men are out there enjoying themselves and have not contributed one kobo to assist the displaced persons. This is a big challenge to all of us and their action is commendable,” he said.

Also, Rivers Professionals led by Alagbo Ross George and Mr. Sibe Robbison have extended their love to the flood victims by donating relief materials to some camps across the state.

Worried by the continuous health hazards faced by the victims, the University of Port Harcourt Medical Students Association (PUMSA) in conjunction with its specialist doctors from its alumni, has embarked on medical outreaches to the internally displaced persons.

The group, last week, donated drugs, including anti-malaria tablets for adults and children, haematinics, anti-hypertensives, antibiotics, worm expellants, antibacterial and antifungal creams, painkillers, antibacterial soaps, toothpastes, toothbrushes, toilet rolls and sanitary pads.

According to the president of the group, David Briggs-Otto, the gesture was aimed at preventing the victims from contacting diseases, considering the unhygienic conditions in which they are forced to live in.

C’RIVER TO MONITOR EX-MILITANTS’ DONATION

November 1, 2012 by Mudiaga Affe 

Cross River State Government on Wednesday said it would monitor the distribution of the relief items donated to flood victims in the state by ex-militants.

Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Efiok Cobham, stated this on the premises of the state Emergency Management Agency in Calabar while receiving the materials from a delegation from the Office of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

No fewer than 26, 000 ex-militants from Niger Delta participating in the amnesty programme contributed N2,000 each amounting to N52.7m to assist flood victims in the country.

Among the items donated to flood victims in the state were eight cartons of seasoning, 35 cartons of milk, 15 bags of salt, 30 bags of garri, 20 cartons of diapers and 1, 300 pieces of mosquito nets.

Others were 60 containers of groundnut oil, 23 containers of palm oil, four bags of beans, 1,000 bags of sachet water and 40 cartons of noodles.

Cobham assured the leader of the delegation, Mr. Lawrence Pepple, that the materials would get to the victims.

He said, “I am touched by this contribution. This gesture speaks volume in many ways when you look at the background of those making the donation.”

KUKU CALLS FOR ESTABLIHMENT OF 3 TRAINING CENTRES FOR FORMER MILLITANTS IN N/DELTA

The Presidential Amnesty Office on Wednesday appealed to the Federal Government to establish three basic training centres in Niger Delta for former militants to reduce capital flight.
Mr Kingsley Kuku, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, made this call in Abuja when Mr Oluseyi Onafowokan, the Nigerian High Commissioner in Ghana paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
Kuku urged the Federal Government to expand its ambit of operations to set up at least three basic skill training centres for the former militants in the country.
He said that although the establishment of such centres was not part of the office’s mandate, but if the former militants were trained in the country, a lot of funds would be saved.
 ``The establishment of skill training centres is not part of our mandate. We don’t have that mandate as it operates now.
``However, it is one of the prayers we are making to President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Assembly, where they can expand our ambit of operations by giving the amnesty office the power to set up at least three basic skill training centres in the region.’’
Kuku, who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, said that if the Federal Government expanded its ambit of operations, the office would establish three basic training centres namely oil and gas and marine, basic skills and construction skill centres.
 ``It is our prayer to put these three centres in place in the Niger Delta. Most of the trainings that we are taking to some countries are resulting to capital flight and can be done in this country.
``It will keep the fund in Nigeria and a lot of Nigerians will be engaged. It will also bring back labour within our economy. This is what we are praying for.
``Again, in the 2013 budget, we are praying that we should be allowed to establish the centres instead of taking people abroad for training,’’ Kuku said.
The amnesty boss said that since the commencement of the amnesty programme in 2009, 393 former militants had graduated from various training institutions in Ghana.
They graduated from courses ranging from welding and fabrication, agriculture and fish farming, crane operation, maritime and drilling technology.
He said that currently, 383 of the former militants were  receiving training in Ghana.
Onafowokan said that the visit was to express the high commission’s support to the amnesty office and see how the amnesty programme would work for the betterment of the country.
The high commissioner commended the Federal Government for the continuity of the amnesty programme, saying, ``the idea will rejuvenate the whole Niger Delta and the Nigerian youths from all over.’’
He said that the visit was also to report to the Federal Government, the former militants’ brilliant performance in the various training institutions in Ghana.
``I have visited many of them.  I must confess that the amnesty office is doing a very good job because the boys are composed.
``I think this is a way of taking our boys off the streets and crimes and making them productive members of the society,’’ Onafowokan said.