Monday, September 1, 2025
23.8 C
Lagos

Niger Delta Amnesty Programme: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow!

The Niger Delta Amnesty Programme is still on course! That was the good news every citizen of the Niger Delta region, concerned Nigerians and multinationals in the oil & gas sector wanted to hear from the Seat of Power in Abuja.

That good news came via presidential statement announcing retired Brigadier-General Paul Boroh as the New Co-ordinator of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme. He replaced Kingsley Kuku.

Before that announcement, there was understandable concern and uncertainty over the fate of the programme under the Buhari administration following the conclusion of the 2015 general elections in which the Niger Delta voted enmasse for former President Goodluck Jonathan, an indigene of the Niger Delta region.

Yesterday
Looking back, one would naturally commend former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for taking the right decision on June 25, 2009 to proclaim a 60-day unconditional amnesty period for militants in the Niger Delta region, in an attempt to resolve peacefully, the militancy crisis in the region.

The terms of the programme was for the militants to renounce violence, lay down their arms and surrender such arms to the authorities
unconditionally. In return, the federal government agreed to initiate an amnesty programme to rehabilitate and train the ex-militants on various vocational/career modules in Nigeria and other selected countries abroad.

At the beginning of the amnesty programme, an estimated 30, 000 ex-militants signed on for the rehabilitation and training scheme, while
the life-span of the programme was pegged at five years.

Again, looking back, the amnesty programme did not come as a form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by the federal government. Rather, the government was forced to initiate it when it became obvious that Military Might by the federal authorities was not stemming the daily bloodshed, criminal acts of kidnappings and attendant ransoms, but more importantly, loss of vital revenue from declining oil production and export as a result of the militancy in the region.

Thankfully, both the militants and federal government duly accepted the programme, leading to disarmament and surrender of weapons by the ex-militants, and eventual commencement of their rehabilitation, integration and training on various areas of career.
Niger Delta Amnesty Programme: August 10-16, 2015

Today
Now, what is the situation today? Before the advent of the Buhari administration, the amnesty programme itself was winding up gradually, counting in its successes, thousand of ex-militants that benefitted from the programme in several ways, both in cash and training.

But during the same period, the programme itself was also generating heated debate in the polity in respect of one crucial element: payment
of billions of Naira to certain militant warlords to allegedly protect oil pipelines from vandalisation on the premise that the ex-militants were better suited to protect oil pipelines running through the creeks.

As various figures allegedly paid to the militant warlords in Naira and Dollars for the pipeline protection contract became public knowledge, issues were being raised as follows:

Why should the federal government hand over the security of oil pipelines to ex-militants for protection, rather than security agencies? Who protected the pipelines before the advent of militancy in the Niger Delta?

How long will this contract last? Was the protection contract not an admission of failure of security by the federal government?

Expectedly, the pipeline protection contract became a controversial issue. It was therefore not surprising when on assumption of office on
May 29, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari quickly cancelled the entire pipeline protection contract regime.

The cancellation then gave the impression that Buhari was about to cancel the entire amnesty programme in totality. However, the appointment of Boroh has soothed frayed nerves in that regard.

Tomorrow
What would be the fate of the amnesty programme going forward? Tomorrow, they’d say, is pregnant-it could produce anything. For now, the first game plan should be for the ex-militants to benefit as much as possible from the amnesty programme while it lasts.

The second part is the issue of infrastructural development of the Niger Delta region as Phase 11 of the amnesty programme. It is not in doubt that oil productio has wrecked havoc on Niger Delta lands in form of environmental degradation, lost earnings by fishermen and farmers as a result of oil spill on rivers and waterways and health hazards on the citizens.

Tackling these challenges as Phase 11 of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme will generate more goodwill for the federal government in the region, ensure sustainable peace and stability, and create an enabling environment for oil multinationals to operate seamlessly in the region.

At the end, the federal government will reap more revenue from oil and gas production and export as dividend. For the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, we wait for tomorrow with bated breath!

spot_img
spot_img

Hot this week

Ecobank Nigeria @ 40: Group Unveils N60m in Cash Rewards Program for Customers

Ecobank Nigeria, a subsidiary of the leading pan-African banking...

GOCOP 2025: Conference on Governance Challenges, Prospects Set for October 9

The Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) has announced...

NCC Advances Cybersecurity Framework to Safeguard Nigeria’s Telecom Infrastructure

L-R: President, International Youth Parliament, Hon. Promise Digos; Chief...

Northwest: The Lion’s Share of Tinubu’s Projects

By Tanimu Yakubu Director-General Budget Office of the Federation The Lagos Illusion The...

From Devaluation to Domination: How Tinubu’s Exchange Rate Reforms Turned the Naira into Nigeria’s Export Engine

By Tanimu Yakubu When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration...

Topics

IWD2023: Unity Bank Unveils Women Network to Promote Advocacy for Gender Equity

  As part of initiatives to mark International Women’s Day,...

Stanbic IBTC Partners FATE Foundation on COVID-19 Treatment

  Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, a member of Standard Bank...

NNPC Launches Free Cancer Screening Campaign, Targets 3,000 Nigerians

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) through NNPC...

‘Govt Alone Cannot Fight Poverty in Nigeria’

Wife of the Vice-President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo has said...

Onyema, NSE CEO, Now Associate Member of CIS

The Chief Executive Officer of The Nigerian Stock Exchange...

Galaxy Backbone, ALTON, IXPN Drum Support @2022 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue

The trio of Galaxy Backbone Plc, Internet Exchange Point...

TRENDS IN TALENT ACQUISITION FOR 2020

The hiring market has changed dramatically over the last...
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

spot_imgspot_img