By Dapo Akinrefon
SOME repentant militants in the Niger Delta region have commended the Federal Government’s appointment of a former ambassador to Korea, Akpang Obi Odu as the President’s Adviser on Niger Delta.

In a statement by Messrs Perekumo Walter and Whiskey Odumo, the repentant militants,  under the aegis of the coalition of Niger Delta welcomed the development saying “we can now heave a sigh of relief that peace will now be in sight in the Niger Delta.”

According to them, “from what we have heard of Obi Odu, he is a man of integrity and from his background as a retired military personnel, we are sure that he will make use of his wealth of experience in conflict resolution to make sure that those who have accepted or are yet to accept the amnesty programme of the federal government are properly integrated into the society.

The repentant militants, however, urged the federal government to convene a forum where some of them could feel free to talk about the inadequacies of the amnesty agenda, noting that real solutions could only be found to the problem when the

major issues had been addressed.

sImilarly, the Bayelsa Youths Vanguard has urged the new presidential aide to come up with a programme that would accommodate all the repentant militants rather than continuously enrich those they called the kingpins whom they said were now living big while their supporters were dying.

Spokesman of the organization, Mr Aaron Ayabowei said it was sad that only a few repentant militant leaders were being patronized by the government and made to live comfortable lives, while their followers were not properly taken care of.

He advised the new adviser to work closely with the people, avoid mistakes of the past and ensure that all the stakeholders are taken along. He also expressed the hope that Obi Odu would do better in his new assignment.