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Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has called for adequate funding of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for it to function effectively.
Diri made the call on Friday when he received the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro and his delegation in the Government House in Yenagoa.
The Governor, who stressed that funding was critical to the survival of the programme, advocated the need for state governments and the members of the National Assembly from the Niger Delta to collaborate towards addressing its funding challenges.
He said: “There is no place that will survive without funds. We can also support you in ensuring that our National Assembly members make the contacts and synergise so that these issues will not be left for you alone to handle.”
He advised Dr Otuaro to build linkages across relevant state governments within the region to ensure that the programme made meaningful impact, noting that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) also faces similar challenges, which he said had affected its activities.
The governor admonished those calling for the scrapping of the programme, saying that the issues that led to its establishment were still prevalent.
According to him, despite the transition to renewable energy, crude oil production still plays a vital role in the nation’s economy and advocated for the continuation of the programme.
Giving a brief history of the armed struggle of the Ijaw people from the days of Jasper Adaka Boro, Diri said: “The ljaws, for long, have been suffocated in a structure that they had given their all in terms of human and natural resources. Over the years, there has been a long cry of neglect and underdevelopment.
“The initial armed struggle in Ijawland basically fought for justice and development. The community called Oloibiri in Bayelsa State, where crude oil was first struck in commercial quantity in 1956, is now a shadow of itself. Nothing was ploughed back into Oloibiri that brought out all the trillions of naira for Nigeria.
“I like my brothers from other states to recognise that amnesty was not a gift to the Niger Delta but it is meant to bring succour to a people that had been abandoned.”
In his remarks, the PAP Administrator requested the support of the state government in the area of funding for its training programmes.
Otuaro said that the programme was at the rehabilitation and reintegration stage and that there was need to consult with all relevant stakeholders to ensure its success.
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