Unemployed youths hijack amnesty programme

The Moment

16 December 2011

Unemployed youths hijack amnesty programme

THE unemployment situation in the country has become so pathetic that youths now scramble through various means to get into the workforce.

Unemployment issue in the Niger Delta has become phenomenal. Caroline Ekara reports that some unemployed youths parade as ex-militants with eye on the benefits of amnesty.

THE unemployment situation in the country has become so pathetic that youths now scramble through various means to get into the workforce.

The rising unemployment in Nigeria is perhaps leading youths of the Niger Delta to declare themselves as members of the dreaded former militant groups that were before now, a nightmare to Nigerians and expatriates alike.

Two years after the Federal Government granted amnesty to militants fighting mainly for development and job opportunities in the oil-rich Niger Delta, violence has become very minimal, and oil revenue, which suffered a drop at the height of the conflict, have increased.

But the success of the programme has made many to believe that through identifying with the amnesty that has brought long-term peace to the region, opportunities for home or overseas skill acquisition trainings will be open to them.

Read on ....