Amnesty Program Two Years Later

Daily Champion

4 August 2011

Amnesty Program Two Years Later

WHEN former President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua approved the implementation of the Niger Delta Amnesty programme two years ago, he, most likely, would not have imagined that it would become the huge success that it presently has become.

At the time he made the historic move, the Niger Delta region was, literally, a war zone. 

+++

Overall, however, the programme, being presently implemented by Mr. Kingsley Kuku, the Special Adviser to the President of Niger Delta, has done more for the economy than all the military might of the country could have done and has achieved more for the Niger Delta region than all the militant groups put together could have achieved if they had remained in the creeks.

The challenge that all stakeholders, especially the IOCs, other private sector operators in the region and government, must face squarely now is to ensure that as they complete their training within or outside the country, these ex-agitators are fully re-integrated into the society through gainful employment.