Ijaw Youths urge Tinubu to ignore calls for scrapping of Amnesty Programme

President Bola Tinubu has been advised by the Ijaw Youths Network, or IYN, to disregard calls to end the Presidential Amnesty Programme or PAP.

According to the Ijaw youth body, people advocating for the PAP’s dissolution are uneasy with the current state of peace and stability in the Niger Delta. They are obviously not driven by patriotism or sincere care for the area and Nigeria.

The IYN claimed in a statement signed by Federal Ebiaridor, the Secretary, and President Frank Ebikabo that the call being supported by ethnic chauvinists is a diversion from the new PAP leadership and is not worthy of serious consideration.

The group was reacting to remarks made by a man named Frank Tietie, who stated on national television that the PAP was corrupt and that despite the Federal Government spending money on it, nothing had been accomplished by the organisation.

The Ijaw youths denounced Tietie’s assertion that only one ethnic group was claiming the PAP, emphasising that the Niger Delta currently needs coordinated development efforts rather than the incitement of polarising ethnic sentiments and their use to undermine a legitimate organisation having an impact on the area.

According to the IYN, the PAP’s carefully considered programmes have made a significant contribution to maintaining the current state of peace in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

The group stated that it is undeniable that a number of former agitators and members of affected areas are thriving in a variety of economic fields as a result of their PAP training.

The group went on to say that many of the PAP’s beneficiaries would not have had the chance to receive such advanced workforce training if they hadn’t been able to find gainful employment as air traffic controllers, flight instructors, aircraft maintenance engineers, pilots, underwater welding technicians, and other professionals from the various Niger Delta states.

According to the IYN, a number of people who received training and empowerment from the Programme are succeeding in a variety of trade fields, including fashion design, hairdressing, fish farming, baking and confectionery, rice production, cement and building materials trading, and several other enterprises.

The group said, “While it is not our intention to bring the odious inter-ethnic wrangling in the Niger Delta to the fore at this point, we find it obligatory to condemn the reprehensible act of hiding under the toga of ethnicity to attack the PAP. What the Niger Delta and indeed the country needs at this point is unity and concerted efforts for development.

“As a region, we have suffered too much and cannot afford these antics that have held us down.

“We listened to the desperate call by one Mr Frank Tietie, a supposed Niger Delta activist who called for the scrapping of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. Tietie told his interviewers that the Presidential Amnesty Programme has failed and must be discontinued, citing corruption in the agency.

“Even more regrettable, was the fact that the supposed Niger Delta activist claimed only a set of ethnic nationality had laid claims to the Presidential Amnesty Office. This is untrue and misleading.

“He also said that the Federal Government had spent N500 billion on the Presidential Amnesty Programme with no results for the money. We find it difficult to believe that a true activist will lament that the Federal Government spent N500 billion on the PAP. The self-styled stakeholder forgot to mention what the Federal Government has spent on the Ministry of Niger Delta and the Niger Delta Development Commission, and why the two bodies should be scrapped for corruption if that is the standard for the survival of agencies.

“While we do not want to jump to accuse anybody of selective amnesia, we cannot forget in a hurry that, at the peak of the armed struggle before the proclamation of the Presidential Amnesty in 2009, those calling for the scrapping of the Programme tagged the ex-agitators and their Ijaw ethnic nationality as troublemakers.

“However, Nigerians from outside the region appreciated the fact that there was underdevelopment, pain, agony and frustration which triggered deep resentments in the oil-producing areas.”

As evidenced by the facts, the IYN emphasised that the Federal Government did not declare selective, ethnically-based amnesty in the Niger Delta.

The group emphasised that attempting to mislead the nation with the misleading narrative that the 30,000 ex-agitators listed under the Programme were there on the basis of ethnicity was just plain wrong.

“Nigerians know that the Federal Government of Nigeria did not declare a selective amnesty for the ex-militants in the Niger Delta. The 30,000 ex-agitators captured under the programme are not enrolled because they speak a particular language. Mr. Tietie can ask his kinsman, General Lucky Aralile (retd.), who was the pioneer head of the Presidential Amnesty Programme,” the statement added.

Please don’t forget to “Allow the notification” so you will be the first to get our gist when we publish it. 
Drop your comment in the section below, and don’t forget to share the post.