Flt. Lt. Terry Ajogbena (rtd) delivers the lecture on behalf of Maj. Gen. Barry Ndiomu (rtd), PAP IA
A cross section of those at the lecture listen with attention
The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) remains a critical tool to mitigate conflicts in the oil-rich Niger-Delta region.
Maj. Gen. Barry Ndiomu (rtd), PAP interim administrator, made this assertion while delivering a lecture on Friday at the National Defence College Abuja.
Ndiomu recalled that 13 years down the line, the PAP had played a more critical role in stemming agitations, compared to the efforts of other intervention modules in the past.
The PAP as initiated and signed into law by late former President Umaru Yar’Adua on June 25, 2009, was conceived as a special intervention programme of the Federal Government to disarm, demobilse and reintegrate ex-agitators who responded to calls to lay down their arms.
In a lecture entitled “Concepts of War and Theories of Peace in Conflict Management: Niger Delta Post – Amnesty Programmes in Perspective”, to mark the Module 7 of the lecture series of the College, Gen. Ndiomu listed corruption, inadequate funding, lack of political will and other factors, as responsible for the failure of various intervention agencies in the region.
Ndiomu who was represented by Flight Lieutenant Terry Ajogbena (rtd) his Technical Assistant, explained that the PAP had since embarked on its “Three Prong Model” – Robust Stakeholder Engagement, Strategic and Targeted Communication and Community Outreach, Peace Building and Reconciliation to manage conflicts in the Niger Delta.
He stated that the PAP was only a comprehensive arm of the Niger Delta Recovery Plan (NDRP), which also has the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Ministry of Environment.
Said he: “The PAP is essentially a capacity building Programme”.
While responding to questions on environmental remediation from participants at the Lecture, the PAP boss hinted that the Amnesty Programme had trained ex-agitators in environmental cleaning as well as remediation and made reference to Government Ekpomoplo a.k.a. Tomplo’s whose Tantita Security Services Limited is executing a Pipeline Surveillance Contract for the Federal Government.
He added that the region had enjoyed relative peace, with no reports of blowing up of pipelines and an increase in crude oil production.
In a remark, Major General Lawrence Fejokwu, Deputy Commandant of the National Defence College, noted that since 1958 till date, various intervention agencies had struggled to address agitations in the region.
He recalled that when the Amnesty Programme kicked off, it was so successful such that other countries facing similar challenges, came to Nigeria to understudy the Programme.
