PAP coordinator Ndiomu meets European Union, seeks collaboration

By Sola Omoniyi, Lagos

Following a move to advance the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and reposition things for ex-agitators in the Niger Delta Region, the Interim Administrator of the programme, Major General Barry Ndiomu (rtd) on Wednesday had a crucial meeting with the Office of the European Union (EU) in Abuja.

The amnesty coordinator during the meeting solicited institutional and technical support from the EU, especially in the PAP’s proposed Cooperative Scheme that would commence soon.

Ndiomu while emphasizing how the Cooperative will create sustainable livelihoods for youths in the Niger Delta and make them more self-reliant, recalled that the persistent problems since the laying down of arms evolved how to meaningfully engage the ex-agitators.

He said his administration remained committed to the repositioning of ex-agitators in Niger Delta region.

PAP leader told the EU that the figure of existing beneficiaries was reviewed upwards to cover indigenes of impacted communities, stating that over five vocational training centres had been established across the Niger Delta Region, with some at various stages of completion.

He noted that the Cooperative Scheme, once fully operational, would discourage ex-agitators from continuously depending on the monthly N65,000.

Ndiomu regretted that successive leaderships in the region appeared to have applied short-term measures in their approach to tackle the problem of youth restiveness.

In response, Agnieszka Torres De Oliveira, Politics, Press and Information Officer of the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, acknowledged that the initiatives of the PAP falls in line with the Pillars of the EU, which includes Security, Peace Building and Human Development.

The EU further commended the Ndiomu-led PAP for “seeing through the weaknesses” of the PAP and coming up with innovative measures to address them.

While thanking Ndiomu and his team for a very robust conversation and detailed insights into issues of the Niger Delta, the EU expressed commitment to engage and provide more accessible avenues that would enable the programme achieved its objectives.

The Interim Administrator of the PAP was accompanied by retired Supreme Court Justice, HRM Francis Tabai, the Ebenanaowei of Tuomo Kingdom in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, and other senior Officials of the PAP.

The current PAP leadership is rigorously working with other stakeholders to rejuvenate and support the accomplishment of the objectives for which it was established. It has also been engaging a broader political approach to achieving these objectives.