Group to stakeholders: Niger Delta in distress, endorse amnesty programme for devt

A group, the Niger Delta Peace Advocates (NDPA), has called on stakeholders in the Niger Delta region to put their differences aside and take full advantage of the opportunities presented to them with the presence of interventionist agencies, including the Presidential Amnesty Programme to change the fortunes of the region.

The group made the call in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Ebitimi Kurowei and Amangiye Thomas, respectively, on Monday, October 9, 2023.

The NDPA said the people of the region have since been singing in discordant tunes to the detriment of advancing its socio-economic well-being, noting that the Niger Delta region is in a state of distress.

It stated: “Part of the problems of the Niger Delta are self-inflicted. There is lack of cohesion, unity and the seeming culture of calling out those charged with the responsibility of developing the area to public ridicule is a very worrying trend.

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“A case in point is the Presidential Amnesty Programme, where the Interim Administrator, General Barry Ndiomu has made tremendous transformations with a shift from the past and focusing more on the sustainability of ex-agitators now and for the future.”.

The NDPA further urged the people of the region to instead of dissipating energy on disparaging Ndiomu pool their resources together to form a body of experts to offer diverse pieces of professional advice and ideas on how to explore the potentials of ex-agitators and youths from the region toward positive directions.

The group noted that if the Presidential Amnesty Programme and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) had been established elsewhere in the country, people from such places would have taken full advantage of the opportunities presented by those agencies and worked closely with their managements to reap maximally from them.

“We condemn the culture of entitlement among our people particularly the majority of the ex-agitators who are still relying on the monthly sixty-five thousand naira stipend which has become inconsequential under the present economic realities in the country. This mentality has also created a culture of indolence which should be discouraged,” it added.

The Star