By Donu Kogbara

MAJOR General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (retd), the recently appointed Interim Administrator (IA) of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, visited Senator Douye Diri, the Bayelsa State Governor, in Yenagoa on Tuesday.

Ndiomu, a native of Bayelsa, was visibly touched by the warm welcome he received from Diri. But the thing that struck me most was the quality of the conversation that the two men had in the presence of assorted aides and journalists, this columnist included.

Most of the courtesy calls I’ve personally witnessed over the years have been characterised by empty platitudes and anodyne statements, as government VIPs or private sector CEOs vie with each other to be as non-commital and uncontroversial as possible.

But there was none of the usual boring pussyfooting on this occasion. Ndiomu and Diri didn’t waste time on meaningless chit chat. They both cut straight to the chase and frankly exchanged trenchant opinions based on factual realities and sound research. I think it is fair to say that they came across as no-nonsense but caring leaders who have their constituents’ best interests at heart.

The PAP, a DDR (disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration) initiative, was inspired by a United Nations Peacekeeping Programme model and has been used in many countries. Here, it was designed to encourage “militant” outlaws in the Niger Delta creeks to lay down their weapons and become productive members of society.

DDR programmes are never meant to be perpetual and Nigeria’s version, which was launched in 2009, was supposed to end in 2015; but for various reasons, it was extended and is now in its 13th year. Ndiomu was recruited to shut PAP down; but after consulting widely with stakeholders (Diri included), ex-agitators and respected influencers across the region, he has managed to persuade the Federal Government to suspend the termination exercise.

However, Ndiomu is not a corrupt, cynical, complacent, inefficient Business As Usual person. He is a cerebral lawyer as well as a robust soldier; and while conceding that PAP has delivered several significant successes, there are many aspects of the status quo he regards as alarming and intends to change at the earliest opportunity.

He says that PAP has given birth to a “dependency syndrome, which as far as I’m concerned, is not something that’s in our best interests because we’re introducing a culture of laziness…What we’re trying to do right now is to recalibrate the programme, make it more meaningful and impactful. We’re carrying out audits of those who are in the scholarship scheme, audits of those who are in [vocational] training and audits of those being paid monthly stipends. And we have uncovered enormous fraud…

“…For example we have cases where an individual with a single BVN number, receives the stipends of 33 persons; and this has occurred severally…[there are] over 1,600 of such cases…How they did it, I do not know. Investigations are ongoing. At the end of the day, we will make recoveries from the banks that aided this kind of fraud……Funds that have been frittered away like this could have been better utilized in training our children across the Niger Delta. And the figures runs into hundreds of millions…”

Ndiomu also complained about inheriting a debt of about N4.5billion. It was linked to vocational training contracts he says were grossly inflated. Fortunately, he has been able to re-negotiate these contracts and save N1.3 billion. But intervention funds are still needed urgently and he is suspending the award of scholarships because PAP cannot afford to take on additional liabilities.

After listing other dysfunctions he has encountered, Ndiomu told Diri that what saddens him most is that “these are actions perpetrated by Niger Delta people against their own people; and I do not think it is fair…When you look at the total amount that has been spent on the amnesty programme, it runs into trillions of naira but we have very little to show for it in terms of infrastructure…”

Diri also refused to beat about the bush. His opening salvo, in response to Ndiomu, was that the disarmament leg of the DDR tripod was far from stable. “Can we,” he asked rhetorically, “really convince ourselves that we have been able to completely disarm? While we are the final stage of reintegration, you and I know that within the Niger Delta, non-state actors are in still possession of arms. So, I would like to state that the process of disarmament has not been 100 percent completed.”

Diri also referred to the need for PAP to participate in expansion of environmental remediation exercises beyond Ogoniland, so the chronic pollution in the region as a whole can be addressed.  Another sore point Diri did not shy away from was the fact that “We play politics with the development of our region”…and allow ourselves to be distracted by the fact that most Niger Delta governors are PDP while the central government is APC.

“Before APC and PDP, we were one and the same people. Those who sacrificed their lives, the Isaac Boros, didn’t do that for political reasons…Therefore I’d like to call on you not to politicise the amnesty programme and to work in synergy with the state governments of the region…”

Hear hear!!! With bold, straightforward and intelligent men like Ndiomu and Diri playing key roles both locally and nationally, there is hope for Bayelsans in particular and Niger Deltans in general.