Diri Calls for Increase Funding of PAP

Diri Calls for Increase Funding of PAP

The Governor of Bayelsa State, Governor Douye Diri has said that funding is critical for the success of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

The Governor for adequate funding of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for it to function effectively.

Diri also stressed that PAP was not a gift to the Niger Delta region but was deliberately designed to bring some form of succor to the abandoned oil rich region.

"I like my brothers from other states to recognise that amnesty was not a gift to the Niger Delta but to bring succour to a people that had been abandoned."

Governor Diri made the call on Friday when he received the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro, and his delegation in Government House,  Yenagoa.

The governor stressed that funding was critical for the survival of the programme.

He advocated the need for state governments and National Assembly members from the Niger Delta to collaborate towards addressing the funding challenges of the PAP.

He said: "There is no place that will survive without funds. These are some of the issues that we as governors can also support 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 a meaningful impact, noting that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) also faces similar challenges, which had affected its activities.

The Bayelsa governor cautioned against the call for the scrapping of the programme, saying the issues that led to its establishment have not been addressed.

According to him, despite the transition to renewable energy, crude oil production still plays a vital role in the nation's economy and advocates for continuation of the programme.

During recalled a brief history of the armed struggle of the Ijaw people from the days of Jasper Adaka Boro, while stressing the critical place of the PAP in the region.

"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 quantities in 1956, is now a shadow of itself. Nothing was ploughed back into Oloibiri that brought out all the trillions of naira for Nigeria.

While commending the previous administrators of the programme for creating training centres across the region, the governor decried the vandalism at the training centre in Kaiama in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of the state and urged Otuaro to revamp it.

In his remarks, the PAP Administrator requested the support of the state government in the area of funding for its training programmes.

Otuaro said the programme was at the rehabilitation and reintegration stage and there was a need to consult with all relevant stakeholders to ensure its success.

He noted that from 2014, funding for the programme was reduced by half while its scope was expanding, particularly when it had about 1,681 students in tertiary institutions in the country and 38 students studying abroad. 

Otuaro also disclosed that 98 maritime cadets have just been deployed within the country, stressing that there was a need to expand the programme to accommodate women stakeholders that are business-oriented. 

He applauded Senator Diri for his administration's efforts in ensuring that Bayelsa remained peaceful, adding that Ijaw people were happy with the prevailing peace and security as Bayelsa is the homogenous state for all ljaw