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SUNDAY Vanguard, NOVEMBER 20, 2022, PAGE 9<br />
AMNESTY PROGRAMME:<br />
•Ndiomu<br />
By Charles Kumolu,<br />
Deputy Editor<br />
Sometime in 2009, at Aso Rock Villa,<br />
Nigeria’s seat of power, the then<br />
First Lady, Turai Yar’Adua, was disturbed<br />
over the spate of restiveness in oil-producing<br />
states in the Niger Delta region.<br />
The nation was recording unquantifiable<br />
losses in many areas, especially the economy.<br />
Daily unwholesome news from the creeks<br />
left much to be desired.<br />
At the time, government seemed to have run<br />
out of solutions or better still deployed the<br />
wrong approach to such a parlous situation.<br />
The legitimate force employed, only<br />
succeeded in making the area more restive<br />
while the nation accelerated toward<br />
bankruptcy.<br />
Sunday Vanguard recalls that the military<br />
had launched a major ground, air and sea<br />
offensive to flush militants out of their camps<br />
in the area.<br />
Like the wife of James Madison, 4th US<br />
President, Dolley Madison, who understood<br />
the importance of national treasures and saved<br />
them from being destroyed when the British<br />
burnt down the White House in 1812, Turai<br />
knew the significance of peace to the success<br />
of her husband’s administration.<br />
Behind the scenes, without the knowledge of<br />
President Umar Yar’Adua, alongside a few like<br />
minded people, she laid the foundation for<br />
what later became the Amnesty Programme.<br />
This is perhaps unknown to many.<br />
You will be amazed to know how she set the<br />
stage for what later became the Presidential<br />
Amnesty Programme, PAP.<br />
Militants<br />
However, there was also the Niger Delta<br />
Technical Committee, NDTC, upon whose<br />
recommendations, government acted.<br />
But the then-First Lady played<br />
troubleshooting roles behind the scenes.<br />
“We started talking slowly with the militants,<br />
when it got to a stage, I told my husband that<br />
this is what we are doing. We used to invite<br />
them at about 1:30 or 2:30 at night. I used to<br />
have meetings with them privately in my office.<br />
We would just smuggle them into my office,<br />
even though my husband didn’t know until I<br />
told him what I was doing. He agreed and<br />
said let’s go and see them. From there, we<br />
handed over everything, “she stated while<br />
featuring in Violence Free World, VFW,<br />
interview.<br />
Some well-meaning individuals had also<br />
sought solutions, but the fact that the idea of<br />
amnesty could come from such an unlikely<br />
quarter spoke volumes.<br />
It clearly underscored the severity of the<br />
challenges militancy posed and as well, the<br />
urgent need for peace in the creeks at the time.<br />
Sunday Vanguard couldn’t get the official<br />
record of total money lost to militancy, but<br />
After survival, hurdles,<br />
expectations<br />
The federal<br />
government had, last<br />
September, appointed<br />
the Bayelsa-born exmilitary<br />
chief as<br />
Interim Coordinator of<br />
the Amnesty Office.<br />
Apart from serving as<br />
the Garrison<br />
Commander, Nigerian<br />
Army Headquarters<br />
and Chief of Training<br />
and Operations,<br />
Ndiomu held other<br />
sensitive positions<br />
before he retired in<br />
2017.<br />
At the time Ndiomu<br />
emerged as head of PAP,<br />
government had<br />
mulled winding down<br />
the programme to the<br />
several estimates of losses consternation of those with deep knowledge<br />
at certain stages of the of its performance so far.<br />
restiveness suggested the As of last September, this paper reported that<br />
nation was losing a third government had commenced the process to<br />
of its oil production at the effectively shut down PAP by December 31,<br />
peak of the crisis. 2022.<br />
In a-13-point terms of reference titled:<br />
‘Winding Down the Presidential Amnesty<br />
Programme’, Ndiomu was mandated to<br />
“ensure the cessation of all processes of contract<br />
award immediately, identify and profile<br />
beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty<br />
Programme from inception between 17th and<br />
31st October 2022.”<br />
However, stakeholders in the region kicked<br />
against the move, stating that among other<br />
things, a lot of its core values haven’t been<br />
realised.<br />
This resulted in government’s decision to<br />
shelve the earlier plan of shutting down the<br />
programme.<br />
To observers, most of the arguments against<br />
winding down PAP highlighted the magnitude<br />
of the task before the new leadership.<br />
Sunday Vanguard found most of the issues<br />
to be inherited leadership gaps.<br />
Losses<br />
For instance, between<br />
2006 and 2007, an<br />
estimated sum of<br />
$14.4billion tax and<br />
royalty income was lost by<br />
Nigeria.<br />
This was disclosed by the then Managing<br />
Director, Niger Delta Development<br />
Commission, NDDC,Mr.Basil Omiyi, at a preconference<br />
workshop by the Nigerian<br />
Association of Petroleum<br />
Explorationists,NAPE.<br />
Also, in the first quarter of 2009, a few months<br />
before the amnesty declaration, daily losses<br />
were put at 1,101,488 barrels of oil daily.<br />
Within the same period, about 178.9 billion<br />
cubic feet ,cf, of gas production was lost to the<br />
unrest.<br />
In 2016, former Minister of Petroleum, Dr.<br />
Ibe Kachikwu, said Nigeria lost $50-$100<br />
billion in oil revenue at the peak of the militant<br />
attacks on oil and gas facilities in the Niger<br />
Delta, which slashed oil production from 2.2<br />
million barrels per day to one million barrels<br />
per day.<br />
It was based on the losses and the security<br />
threat militancy posed, that Yar’Adua granted<br />
amnesty to former agitators in August 2009,<br />
leading to the establishment of the Presidential<br />
Amnesty Programme, PAP.<br />
From its inception to date, PAP has had six<br />
coordinators. They include Mr. Timi Alaibe,<br />
Mr. Kingsley Kuku, Brigadier Gen Boroh ,retd,<br />
Col Milland Dikkio, retd, and the late Charles<br />
Dokuboh.<br />
Objectives<br />
13 years later, observers are keen about<br />
knowing if the key objectives of the PAP:<br />
disarmament, demobilization and<br />
reintegration have been achieved.<br />
Findings by Sunday Vanguard showed that<br />
while what could be called total disarmament<br />
and demobilization have been realized, a lot<br />
needs to be done in terms of reintegration and<br />
other sub-objectives.<br />
For instance, incessant attacks on oil<br />
facilities by militants are no longer being<br />
recorded, leading to an improvement in oil<br />
production beyond the pre-amnesty period. But<br />
crude oil theft believed to be perpetrated by<br />
those in high places has nearly driven oil<br />
production to where it was before amnesty<br />
proclamation.<br />
On the pledge of training and educating<br />
30,000 people, who surrendered at the<br />
inception of the scheme in Obubra, Cross River<br />
State, some have been trained, educated and<br />
given vocational skills in various fields.<br />
Among the products of PAP are pilots,<br />
lawyers, engineers and welders among others.<br />
Irrespective of the successes recorded,<br />
stakeholders believe that much needs to be<br />
done to ensure the realization of the dreams<br />
envisioned by the late President Yar’Adua.<br />
Ndiomu<br />
The realisation of the total objectives is<br />
predicated on how well the present leadership<br />
of Major-General Barry Ndiomu, retd,<br />
addresses inherited challenges in the<br />
management of the scheme.<br />
Non-Niger Deltans<br />
They include the growing number of<br />
beneficiaries of the scheme, over N90 billion<br />
debt profile, alleged systemic fraud and<br />
existence of non-Niger Deltans in the<br />
programme among others.<br />
According to information obtained from PAP<br />
website, no fewer than 30, 000 people were<br />
captured in the programme with 65<br />
percent being youths from Niger<br />
Delta-impacted communities.<br />
It was learned that what<br />
Ndiomu met on the ground<br />
was a situation whereby<br />
some beneficiaries who<br />
have been trained and<br />
empowered were still<br />
receiving their<br />
monthly stipends.<br />
The irregularities on<br />
the payment list were<br />
recently uncovered by an<br />
internal audit that was<br />
instituted by the new Interim<br />
Administrator to clean up the<br />
database of the programme.<br />
The action had attracted criticisms<br />
from few, but many hailed it, saying<br />
the programme was structured to run<br />
in three phases: training,<br />
empowerment and<br />
engagement, after which<br />
beneficiaries exit. But that<br />
wasn’t the case as the<br />
number of beneficiaries<br />
kept increasing up until the<br />
time Ndiomu assumed<br />
office.<br />
Beneficiaries<br />
It is believed that the successful delisting of<br />
bogus beneficiaries would save costs for<br />
government and ensure the culture of<br />
exploiting the system is addressed.<br />
A source at the Amnesty Office, who spoke<br />
on the exercise undertaken by the new<br />
leadership, said: “The painful aspect of the<br />
issue is that a lot of people have fed fat from<br />
the PAP, many of them are called ‘billionaires’<br />
today.<br />
“The main agitators, who really fought, are<br />
not part of those who are billionaires today.<br />
They were exploiting the programme until Gen<br />
Ndiomu exposed their nefarious acts.’’<br />
•...as new leader<br />
targets re-engineering<br />
of scheme<br />
The source further revealed that over the<br />
years, scholarships were given to hundreds of<br />
non-Niger Deltans.<br />
The trend was said to have denied deserving<br />
ex-agitators training, which is one of the three<br />
phases of PAP. The other stages of the<br />
programme are empowerment and<br />
engagement.<br />
Another source drew a parallel between the<br />
composition of PAP and North-East<br />
Development Commission, saying it’s difficult<br />
to find any Niger Deltan working in the<br />
commission. He added that non-Niger Deltans,<br />
including those from the North, hold sensitive<br />
positions in PAP.<br />
The alleged inclusion of non-Deltans in PAP,<br />
was, however, corroborated in an interview<br />
with Sunday Vanguard by the Grand Patron<br />
of Ijaw Youth Council Eselemo, who said,<br />
“people like Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and others<br />
who are not from the Niger Delta benefitted,<br />
according to revelations.”<br />
Value<br />
Also, Ndiomu was said to have met over N90<br />
billion in debts, which perhaps made the<br />
federal government include ascertaining the<br />
debt profile in his mandate.<br />
A report sighted by Sunday Vanguard stated<br />
that the presidency had directed Ndiomu to,<br />
“propose a mechanism for the settlement of<br />
outstanding debts, if any, by 31st December<br />
2022.”<br />
This unarguably confirmed the worries of<br />
stakeholders over the indebtedness of PAP.<br />
Further findings showed that over the years,<br />
the programme has not created much value in<br />
terms of employment and engagement of the<br />
trained ex-agitators.<br />
It is believed that had past leaders taken<br />
those aspects of the amnesty deal seriously,<br />
many trained ex-militants would have been<br />
well engaged in the oil industry activities even<br />
beyond the region.<br />
Key stakeholders were of the view that had<br />
former agitators been fully involved in the<br />
massive investments in the sector, Ndiomu<br />
wouldn’t have inherited the challenges of<br />
engagement and employment.<br />
Work in progress<br />
This is why many stakeholders want the<br />
present leadership, having shown capacity and<br />
sincerity, to prioritize engagement and<br />
employment of many former agitators.<br />
For observers, apart from the likes of High<br />
Chief Government Ekpemupolo,<br />
Asari Dokubo, Ateke Tom and a<br />
few others, who are now in<br />
productive enterprises,<br />
many ex-agitators are still<br />
struggling.<br />
“If Tompolo, NNPC<br />
and other<br />
stakeholders had<br />
leveraged the<br />
Training and<br />
engagement of the<br />
ex-agitators in the<br />
p i p e l i n e<br />
surveillance<br />
contract, it would<br />
have reduced the<br />
number of untrained<br />
ex-agitators and it<br />
would have been a winwin<br />
situation. The<br />
numbers will be<br />
trimmed down, just as<br />
more value would have been<br />
created for government,” a<br />
Delta-born stakeholder, who<br />
pleaded anonymity, told this<br />
paper.<br />
As things stand, PAP is a work in<br />
progress and not a concluded assignment.<br />
This was largely demonstrated through calls<br />
by well-meaning Nigerians for President<br />
Buhari not to wind down the scheme as<br />
planned.<br />
Now that the President has given the<br />
programme a new lease of life with the<br />
decision not to terminate it, the onus is on<br />
Ndiomu to re-engineer the operations of PAP.<br />
In that regard, it is expected that he makes<br />
government see reasons the scheme should<br />
be redesigned as a social investment<br />
programme.<br />
Having demonstrated willingness to deliver<br />
through his actions so far, not a few doubt<br />
Ndiomu’s capacity at recalibrating PAP along<br />
its core objectives.<br />
The scheme<br />
should be<br />
redesigned as a<br />
social investment<br />
programme