No fewer than 17,000 ex-Niger Delta agitators have been trained under the Presidential Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, the Coordinator of the programme, Retired Brig-Gen. Paul Boro, has said.
Boro, who said this in Nnewi in Anambra state during the graduation of 200 ex-agitators from Innoson KIARA Academy, said that the scheme had transformed their lives.
He said that 30,000 of the former agitators were captured in the programme at inception, adding that the Federal Government was expected to sustain the programme in order to accommodate other interests.
“I appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for sustaining the amnesty programme and further extension of the programme will ensure that government’s efforts are not in vain.
“Those waiting to be enrolled into the amnesty programme will have to wait till when the president will make the pronouncement for new enrollment.
“For now, I am only concerned with the 30,000 that have been captured in the programme,” the coordinator said.
Boro, who is also the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, said that 200 ex-agitators were deployed to Innoson KIARA Academy to learn different trades.
“I congratulate our graduates who have come this far. You have been here for nine months and have come out successful.
“You need to make a difference in your chosen field so that others who have not got this opportunity will crave to be part of it.
“I am happy that Innoson has pronounced that 200 of you have been employed to work and make a difference in his factory,” he said.
The coordinator commended the graduates, who were trained in automobile manufacturing technology, for the presentation of a 21-seater bus which they had manufactured to President Muhammadu Buhari.
“All of government’s efforts are not in vain and you have shown it by the bus you presented to the president,” Boro said.
Earlier, one of the graduates, Mr Moses Alfred, said they appreciated the efforts that led to the success of the programme, adding that they had become better equipped to face life’s challenges.
“We hope that our empowerment will come faster so that we will not sit at home to waste what we have learnt,” Alfred said.
Another graduate, Mr Paul Toruwei, said that Niger Delta youths were hopeful that the region would finally be emancipated and the people drawn out of poverty.
Toruwei said that the youths were happy and appreciative of government’s efforts through Boro, whom, he said, had been a father-figure to them.
NAN reports that the graduation ceremony marked the end of training for the 200 ex-agitators who were deployed to Innoson KIARA Academy under the Education for Employment Programme for Niger Delta youths.
Eighty of the beneficiaries were trained in plastic processing technology, while 120 were trained in automobile manufacturing and maintenance.
The highlight of the event was the exposition and presentation of a 21-seater bus assembled by the trainees to President Muhammadu Buhari.
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