‘You’re building community of intellectuals’: FG lauds Otuaro, vows continued support for PAP

The Federal Government has assured the people of the Niger Delta that President Bola Tinubu will continue to support the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) to deliver on its mandate for the socio-economic advancement and development of the region and Nigeria at large.

The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, gave the assurance at the PAP interactive session with its foreign scholarship beneficiaries organised in London by the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro, on the sidelines of theTinubu’s state visit to the United Kingdom on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.

This was just as the PAP foreign scholarship beneficiaries presented an award of appreciation to Tinubu for strongly supporting the programme, which has resulted in the large-scale onshore and offshore deployments of beneficiaries for various undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

Idris, who received the award on behalf of the president at the event, said the PAP under the leadership of Otuaro is “building a community of intellectuals.”

The minister stressed that there is need for Tinubu to continually fund the PAP, stressing that the programme has changed the hitherto negative narrative of the Niger Delta for good.

Idris, while addressing the students, said: “At this moment that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is paying a state visit to the United Kingdom, the first of its kind in nearly four decades, this (interactive session) is one side event that the president is really proud of.

“I have received the plaque from you on behalf of the President. I am going to deliver this plaque to him. I am going to tell him what I have seen here, and that there is the need for him to continue to support the PAP.

“All of you young men and women that are benefiting from the PAP here in the UK are over 223, undergoing various undergraduate and postgraduate studies; this is very heartwarming.

“This is a programme that is producing a community of intellectuals that are not only interested in the development of the Niger Delta, but also Nigeria as a whole.”

Idris also urged the foreign scholarship students to be good ambassadors of Nigeria in the UK, and also take their studies seriously in order to attain academic excellence.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobiri, commended Tinubu for his “love for Ijaw and the Niger Delta people.”

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Lokpobiri also lauded the achievements of the PAP administrator and expressed appreciation to Tinubu for appointing him.

The minister described Nigeria as one of the safest countries in the world, adding that since the inauguration of the Tinubu administration “the Niger Delta has offered it the peace and stability that is needed by the oil and gas industry.”

In his remarks, Otuaro noted that Tinubu had never withheld support for PAP even as he backed reforms initiated to reposition it for better service delivery to the people of the Niger Delta.

He highlighted all the recent remarkable successes recorded by the PAP, including the deployment of 8,205 scholarship beneficiaries in the last two years were enabled by Tinubu’s support, adding that the engagement with the foreign scholarship beneficiaries underscored his gratitude to him.

Otuaro said: “Since coming to power, our dear president has embraced the programme wholly and expanded it, thereby providing opportunities for many young men and women from the Niger Delta to study in institutions of higher learning at both home and abroad.

“The programme has, over the years, engendered sustainable peace, security and development in the Niger Delta as well as served as a key catalyst for the socio-economic transformation of the region.

“We are therefore firmly committed to creating more opportunities for our youths to have greater access to higher education. The overriding objective, like I have stated, is to empower our youths with the requisite education and knowledge that will enable them compete favourably with their peers, and explore the job market to be gainfully engaged.”

Otuaro, who emphasised that vocational training would upscaled, also extended appreciation to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, for supervising the programme to achieve results in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the president.

The PAP boss, according to a statement issued by his media aide, Igoniko Oduma, reiterated his call on the people of the Niger Delta to reciprocate Tinubu’s intentions for the region and support his reelection massively “because he would do more” for the area.

The Star