Nigeria: How Has the Presidential Amnesty Programme Fared?

23 May 2015
opinion

Almost six years after the Amnesty programme was proclaimed for erstwhile Niger Delta militants, now preferred to be addressed as agitators, it is necessary to cast a beam at what its story line has been: whether it is another wasteful government gesture or whether it has achieved its essence. Presently, the scheme has enlisted 30,000 beneficiaries.

That is huge! Now the question is: was it hardship or ideological conviction that drove a mass of 30,000 persons into such violent agitation? That number is more than the army of some countries. But with 30,000 agitators mopped off the creeks, have we had good quiet and progress in the region? Perhaps yes! But that has not quite translated into a more robust economy, given the huge oil theft that had defined the oil and gas sector in recent times. One thing sure is that the new thieves in the region are not part of the 30,000 agitators many of whom are in foreign lands studying and learning one thing or the other. The country had lost billions of naira from the disruptive activities of the militants at the time, even as Oil and Gas companies, which remained in the region with a resolve to weather the storm, were compelled to cough out a whopping $3billion annually to secure their facilities and installations, as critical infrastructure, especially pipelines, became targets for serial attacks. Again, this propelled the slamming of an outrageous $90million per annum premium Marine War Risk Insurance for cargo into Nigeria. The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) under the leadership of Kingsley Kuku, is now at the critical Reintegration phase with 13,145 youths already graduated in various skills acquisition fields while 4,698 are currently undergoing skills acquisition training or formal education within and outside the country in career choices ranging from marine, heavy duty operations, welding, diving, medical emergency technicians, agriculture and boat building.

...

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.