Leaders of Niger Delta Ex-agitators, have lauded the efforts of Barry Ndiomu, a retired Major General and Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s president, for ongoing reforms being implemented in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP.
Speaking in Calabar during an interactive session facilitated by the PAP for leaders of PAP Phase II, various leaders bore their minds and also called for a sustained implementation of the scholarship initiative as well as the cooperative programmes, recently initiated.
A PAP beneficiary and spokesman of the Ex-agitators Leaders’ Forum, Ibena Rufus, noted that reintegration, which gave previous administrators of PAP a huge challenge, has been creatively and competently addressed by Ndiomu. He further commended the Ndiomu-led administration for restructuring the programme and taking it back to the people.
Earlier, Barry Ndiomu said the essence of the programme is to interact and discuss with the stakeholders who are beneficiaries of several reform interventions in the Niger Delta Region. Represented by Marshall Akpor, the Agency’s Liaison Officer, he disclosed that the Presidential Amnesty Cooperative Society Limited is aimed at providing alternative livelihood to the ex-agitators, while the platform created for scholarships is aimed at ensuring that only real delegates benefit from the scheme.
Head, Reintegration Programme, PAP, Wilfred Musa, disclosed that under the PAP scholarship scheme, more than 10,000 people have benefited since its inception and there is a monitoring and follow-up initiative on beneficiaries who have graduated and have taken up jobs around the world.
