Nigeria: Amnesty - Dubai Firm Employs 30 Niger Delta Youths

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/amnesty-dubai-firm-employs-30-niger-delta-youths/124285/

Thirty youths from the Niger Delta region under the Presidential Amnesty Programme have been offered jobs by the Proclad Group in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The job offer is in welding and fabrication, and came after the youths successfully underwent skills acquisition training brokered by the Amnesty Office in collaboration with the International Centre for Nonviolence and Peace Development, which partnered Proclad Academy, Dubai. Speaking in Abuja Thursday at a send-forth ceremony organised by the Amnesty Office for the youths, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Amnesty Programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, said the Amnesty Office in collaboration with the International Centre for Nonviolence and Peace Development (ICNPD) partnered Proclad Academy to train the youths in various skills acquisition programmes. "To this end, the Presidential Amnesty Office under the Post training Initiative scheme is working with relevant partners and stakeholders in the region and abroad to employ some of the delegates who have successfully completed their training. "This commenced with the engagement of 1000 trainees and immediate employment of 40 maritime delegates by Century Energy Group," he said, giving the names of other training partners that have employed the youths (delegates) as Learning Resources of Ghana (10), Plant and Processing Services in Nigeria (4), Ashland Investment Services also in Nigeria (5), and Proclad Academy in Dubai (30). All the organisations employed the youths in the areas of welding and fabrication. Kuku disclosed that the Amnesty Office had also on August 31 commenced the pilot scheme of Entrepreneurial Refresher Courses, Business Set-up, Coaching, mentoring and Evaluation of 3,450 already trained youths in various vocational skills.

DUBAI FIRM EMPLOYS EX-MILITANT TRAINEES

http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/09/07/dubai-firm-employs-ex-militant-trainees/

30 youths from the Niger Delta region under the Presidential Amnesty Programme have been offered jobs by a Dubai-based firm, The Proclad Group. The youths were among 175 ex-militants trained by the Proclad Academy in the areas of welding and fabrication under the Amnesty programme. The figure brings the total number of trainees engaged after their training to 89. All the youths were engaged in the areas of welding and fabrication. Speaking in Abuja, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku explained that several employment opportunities abound for the youths who were trained under the programme. He added that several trainees of the programme have started their own businesses and the amnesty office is helping them to develop their businesses by organising an Entrepreneurial Refresher Course for the self-employed trainees

AMNESTY OFFICE DEFENDS EX-MILITANTS EMPLOYMENT IN S’AFRICA

September 6, 2012 by Fidelis Soriwei,

Abuja Presidential Amnesty Office has defended the employment of ex-Niger Delta militant graduates of the Amnesty Programme by South African firms. Head of Media and Communications of the Amnesty Office, Mr. Dan Alabrah, said in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Wednesday that the office was in support of the engagement of the ex-agitators because there were no provision of job opportunities for them. He said the fact that the South African firms found the youths worthy of employment had showed that the standard of their training was high. Alabrah added that the development had boosted the image of the country and amnesty programme. He said if the ex-militants had rejected the offers, they would have had to contend with the anxiety of looking for job after their training programme. Alabrah said the African Union Aviation Academy, Masikieng, South Africa, had written the Amnesty Office to release one of the trainees, a pilot, to serve as an instructor at the academy. He added that four other ex-agitators, trained in codd welding, had also been engaged by a foreign firm. He stated also that some of the aviation trainees had applied for further training in Canada. He urged Nigerians not to categorise the engagement of the amnesty trainees by foreign organisations as brain drain. He said, “If they don’t take the opportunity, unemployment may threaten in the future, they may be in the labour market. It is to the benefits of Nigeria, it is not the issue of brain drain. They are still Nigerians, we are not losing them. “It is an attestation to the fact that the programme is already transforming the lives of Niger Delta youths. “I think five of them were initially employed. The school is already appealing to Nigeria to release him (Bassey Henshaw); he has already qualified as a private pilot. “About 47 have got their private licence and they are training for their commercial licence. And to be frank, the office has nothing against their engagement. “They are appealing to Nigeria to release one of the boys to come to African Union Aviation Academy, Masikieng. “They have made representations to us for us to release him, we don’t have anything against it.” Alabrah said the FG was responding to the warning by the United Nations that the world would be needing 100,000 pilots by training pilots through the amnesty programme. He said the office was already into the training of pilots that would take over from the current generation of ageing pilots. He said the ex-agitators were being trained as pilots in South Africa, United States, Greece and Dubai.

FROM THE CREEKS AS MILITANTS TO DUBAI AS AMBASSADORS

Our amiable SA, Hon. Kingsley K. Kuku, the genius of our millennium…these were the words of gratitude used by the Newly recruit Niger Delta Youth, to express their profound gratitude for the opportunity the PRESIDENTIAL AMNESTY PROGRAMME has afforded them, it was just last year that 165 of the PAP beneficiaries gathered at the Amnesty Office and received advice and admonitions before they commenced their journey to study at the Proclad Academy in UAE. Today marks another milestone in the history of Amnesty, as 30 successful graduants are offered Employment with full benefits with The Proclad Group. It is worthy of note and commendation that they are being offered employment which has several benefits including Pension, meals and accommodation. In his response, Hon. Kingsley Kuku advised the newly employed to be good ambassadors of the country from …he noted that this indeed is another score for Mr. President, given the kind of latitude to succeed and achieve his mandate. “By gathering here today, we celebrate Mr. President today for this great feat. These gentlemen have made Nigerians proud and themselves”. There have been several companies that have retained some graduates who have performed excellently in a particular traning. This is the type of DEVELOPMENTAL COUP that the Amnesty Office is Planning, Training People for the kind of job opportunities that investors / companies would have no choice than to engage the trainees in. Mr. Larry Pepple, Technical Assistant / Head Reintegration encouraged them to live as Brothers and a Family, complying fully to the UAE Laws.

Ibiene Jaja

AMNESTY OFFICE BEGINS TRAINEES’ ENTREPRENEURSHIP SCHEME

THE Presidential Amnesty Office has commenced its entrepreneurship scheme with 300 former agitators in the Niger Delta. Speaking at their graduation ceremony in Lagos at the weekend, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, said the pilot scheme was for beneficiaries that had completed their training in various vocations. Kuku, who was represented by the Technical Assistant on Reintegration, Mr. Larry Pepple, explained that the scheme was designed to equip and prepare the amnesty beneficiaries to become self-reliant and employers of labour. According to him, rather than leave them idle after completing their vocational training, a three-week intensive entrepreneurship programme was designed for them preparatory to commencing their own businesses. He added: “For those in this pilot post-training entrepreneurship scheme, we are about to put them through a process where they can create their own small business places. We will brand it, give them branded equipment, seed money and see them become owners of small businesses scattered around the Niger Delta or any place they choose to do business in Nigeria.” He, however, stated that there would be a 12-month monitoring and evaluation period for the beneficiaries when they were expected to maintain log books and monthly reporting to see if they were growing in the business. This, he further explained, would ensure that they go into profitable ventures without nursing the fear of failure. “We are collaborating with some banks to ensure proper funding and monitoring of the scheme. Beneficiaries will not be given cash but they will be required to state their business location, which will then be paid for and properly equipped with the tools or items for their chosen business,” he stated.

3,642 MORE EX-MILITANTS TO BENEFIT FROM AMNESTY PROGRAMME - FG

Written by Yinka Oladoyinbo Akure Tuesday, 04 September 2012

 The Federal Government has concluded arrangements to expand the amnesty programme to include an addition of over 3,642 beneficiaries from the Niger Delta region of the country to bring the total number of beneficiaries to 30,000. Already, the memo to that effect has been presented to President Goodluck Jonathan for approval before the end of September. The expansion of the scheme to accommodate the beneficiaries would, however, be subject to the approval of the president. The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and chairman of the Amnesty programme, Kingsley Kuku, said this in Arogbo Kingdom, Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, at a rally organised in support of the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Chief Olusola Oke. He said the expansion was sequel to agitations from those that were not considered in the first phase of the programme. “There is agitation going on in the Niger Delta and I have always been at the fore-front of the clamour that the amnesty programme has to close, the boys are unrelenting and the security agencies have collected their arms, the only option opened to us is to return their arms, so if we are not going to return their arms, they should be included in the programme one way or the other. “So my office and that of the National Security Adviser have met and forwarded a memo to the president and plead with him to consider the final inclusion of 3642 persons to the present 26368 to make it 30,000. “The way I am pursuing it, between now and October 1, we will have the final say from Mr President, whether he will accept or not,” Kuku said. He added that the programme was being expanded to include those people that did not carry arms during the Niger Delta struggle but worked for the ex-agitators.

PAP PRODUCES 24 NEW GRADUATES IN OIL DRILLING

On the 28th of August 2012,

24 Ex-agitators (herein referred to as delegates) graduated FROM GULF TECHNICAL AND SAFETY TRAINING CENTRE (GTSTC), MUSSAFAH, ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES where they were undergoing a 1 year training in oil drilling. The delegates who are beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme resumed training drilling at Gulf Technical Institute in August 11, 2011 .In 1 year, the delegates have been able to fit into the UAE society,they have been well behaved and finally have completed their training programme. All courses are accredited by International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), Houston Texas, an Organization with exclusive representation in the Oil and Gas industry in drilling technology worldwide. A qualifying examination for IADC unique license and Drilling Diploma was conducted of which 20 of the 24 passed and were awarded the respective certificates. They were awarded unique license, drilling license and diploma. Based on their excellent performance,the management of GTSTC has promised to publish the names and particulars of the 20 delegates who were successful in "the drilling licensing and diploma examinations" on IADC website and the drilling contractor’s membership directory publication as this will go a long way in exposing the delegates to international job placement opportunities.