By Efe Osharode

The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has expanded the training of ex – Niger Delta agitators in much-needed skills to aid their employability and enterprise. It is welcome news to the Niger Delta people, especially ex-agitators and youths in impacted communities desperately in need of training support and reintegration into the formal economy. 

When the Presidential Amnesty Programme was initiated in 2009 it was at the height of agitation by Niger Delta youths over the lack of economic opportunities and the environmental destruction of their communities from oil and gas activities, in spite of the fact that the region has produced the bulk of the nation’s wealth since the late 1960s. In fact, when President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua announced the PAP initiative in 2009, he made it clear that the amnesty programme was designed to end militancy and empower the ex-agitators to learn new skills to make them employable and economically useful. That was the genesis of the PAP which complemented the smooth operation of oil and gas production for the national economy.

Just before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over and launched his Renewed Hope agenda, the Programme seemed to be in recess and there were complaints that the programme should be stopped. However, the president thought otherwise and reshaped the philosophy of the programme to become closer and more inclusive to the people. This was the reason behind the deployment of Dr Dennis Otuaro, whose appointment can be described as a square peg in a square hole, to head the Programme in March 2024 as Administrator of the PAP office. Otuaro is perhaps the first Administrator with a deep and broad academic and experiential qualification for the office. He holds a PhD in Comparative Politics & Development Studies, an MSc in Public Administration, and a BSc in Education. He was also “a top-level executive of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with a surfeit of experience across multiple sectors, including infrastructure development, security, environmental remediation, as well as oil and gas”, as the presidential press statement which announced his appointment stated justifiably. President Tinubu gave him a clear mandate to, “bring his requisite experience and know-how to this role to revamp the Amnesty Programme and advance the realisation of its founding purpose and vision.” Otuaro seemed not to have disappointed the president and Niger Deltans.

One of the first things the new administrator did was to build trust among the diverse peoples and stakeholders of its operational area by a series of engagements with various publics, something that was rare previously. In his first remarks he made it clear that the PAP will upscale its interventions in scholarships and training programs, while operating with transparency and inclusivity across the impacted communities. To build trust and support for the programme, Otuaro and his team have undertaken several meetings with ethnic, community, industry and individual stakeholders across the region. As he said at an engagement last year, “I know all the major stakeholders in the Niger Delta and don’t need intermediaries to engage with anyone. I am not here to make money. My passion is the peace, security, and development of the Niger Delta through the mainstreaming of ex-agitators and creating opportunities for them to become self-sufficient and independent.” 

To cover as much ground as possible, the Administrator has expanded the number of beneficiaries of the various training and scholarship awards. Though PAP inherited 275 scholarships in the 2023/2024 academic session across various partnering universities in the country, according to Otuaro, the office has increased it significantly to about 1,700 while vocational training has also increased significantly. He has also assured students in both local and foreign universities that their fees will not be tampered with. These engagements have ensured that agitation or complaints has been negligible over the past year since he took office. It is no wonder that he has continued to receive the commendation of these stakeholders. The Chairman of the South-South Monarchs Forum and former Minister of Petroleum Resources, His Royal Majesty, King Edmund Daukoru, hailed his reforms and achievement, and pledged the support of the forum for the PAP. 

Given how PAP under Dr Otuaro has been able to build confidence, there is renewed hope among stakeholders that the positive impact on the oil industry which has seen oil production grow tremendously over the last one year will continue. Over the last year there has been negligible agitation and very minimal  disruption of oil and gas activities in the Niger Delta, which has helped push daily oil output to about 1.8 million barrels per day (mbpd). The federal government’s target for this year is between 2.05 mbpd and 2.1mbpd. Otuaro pledged the PAP’s support for the military Joint Monitoring Team which is working along with other partners to stem bunkering, theft and vandalism, and that the agency will continue to work in this direction. “I know that the essence of the PAP is for national and human security in the country and the region. 

We are going to work with you at any time. It’s part of the things we can do within the mandate given to me by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Based on that, we will collaborate with you to ensure the eradication of oil bunkering and other related activities in the Niger Delta. The country’s oil production output is on the rise and has reached 1.8 million barrels per day as announced sometime last week by the NNPCL. We are confident that it will increase more than that.”

Stakeholders say the agency’s vigorous engagement with youths and other demographics gives hope that peace has come to stay and there is hope for the ex-agitators to be gainfully engaged. It is a welcome development, which is worth sustaining.