Buhari Has Done Well for N'Delta, Says Dokubo

Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Prof. Charles Dokubo, at the weekend lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for what he described as his unwavering determination towards deepening peace and development in the Niger Delta region.

Dokubo said Buhari has done well for the people of the oil-rich region, especially with the Amnesty Programme, which he said had trained over 3,000 beneficiaries in less than two years under his (Dokubo) watch from March 2018.

Speaking in Lagos on the sidelines of a ceremony organised by Bradama International Skill Works Limited, a leading construction firm in the oil and gas sector, the Amnesty boss noted that the programme has achieved huge success in transforming the lives of its beneficiaries.

“We have had more than 3,000 beneficiaries who have been trained since I took over office. And we also have a job placement unit that looks for jobs for them. The issue is that the government cannot provide everything; what government does is to create an enabling environment from which people can key into to get something. We believe that with time, those who have been trained, their training will not be wasted. They will go back into the society and attain great heights.

"I believe the Amnesty programme has done a very good work with the support of the federal government. The Buhari administration has been very particular about the Niger Delta, and I believe that if we can use what is available to us well, the Niger Delta region will be in a different place from what it is now,” Dokubo was quoted  to have said  in a statement issued  by his spokesman,  Murphy Ganagana.

While identifying job placement for already trained beneficiaries as a major challenge, Dokubo, however, assured Nigerians that the job placement unit of the Amnesty office would intensify the hunt for job opportunities, even as payment of monthly stipends and allowances, training and empowerment of beneficiaries will be prioritised.

According to him, “The federal government is doing all it takes to ensure that we don’t have hitches in running the programme. The Amnesty programme is prioritised in terms of funding. The fact is that the Amnesty programme has run for about 10 years and the federal government is still supporting the programme. We are in the last stage of the programme, which is reintegration. We have to train our people and bring them back to health so that they will have jobs and earn salaries, and also pay taxes from it.  What we are doing now is to assist those who are being reintegrated into the society so that they can also aid development in their areas.”

Earlier in his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Bradama International Skill Works Limited, Chief Bibopere Ajube, listed the gains of the  programme since its inception. He said it has stabilised the hitherto restive Niger Delta region and increased crude oil production.

Ajube, who is a key leader of ex-agitators in the Niger Delta, commended Dokubo for his commitment towards the development of the region, just as he noted that Bradama International Skills Limited, which he founded nine year ago, has transformed to a leading service provider in the oil and gas sector with over 2,000 employees.

At the ceremony which attracted industrialists, traditional rulers, top politicians, stakeholders in the Niger Delta as well as community leaders, Dokubo was conferred with a Special Recognition Award, the third time he emerged the recipient of coveted awards in two months within and outside the shores of Nigeria.