The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has agreed to work together to build the capacity of beneficiaries of the amnesty programme.
This was the focal point of discussion at a meeting between the leadership of both organizations held at the NCDMB’s content tower in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Interim Administrator of the PAP, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (Rtd), while enumerating the vision and strategic plan of the PAP under him, said everything is being done to reposition the programme to its original mandate of security and development of the region.
He explained that as a deliberate arrangement, there is an ongoing interface with key stakeholders in the region, to get them involved in the overall transformation of the PAP and its beneficiaries in order to provide the desired results.
According to him, they decided to approach the NCDMB because of its industry role, which will be of immense benefit to get the ex-agitators to become entrepreneurs and employers of labour.
Dikio noted that by doing so, the ex-agitators will also become net contributors to the economy of the region and the country, whilst the dependence on stipends and handouts will become a thing of the past.
The PAP boss highlighted the role of the NCDMB in the Niger Delta Recovery Plan (NDRP) as a very vital one.
He assured the commitment of the PAP to be willing partners to address the core issues in the region and the general aspirations of the people all geared towards peace and development.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, thanked Dikio for the visit and assured that the board is willing to collaborate and synergize with the PAP in achieving its mandate.
He expressed optimism that the possible areas of collaborations will deepen and strengthen cordial relationships between both agencies which will in turn become profitable to the Niger Delta region.
Wabote took time to highlight some activities and achievements of the board, especially in the area of training youths in diverse sectors of the economy to give them comparative advantage over their contemporaries anywhere in the world.
The highpoint of the meeting was the agreement by the two federal institutions to set up a team to design a working plan and a Memorandum of Understanding on the core interest of human capacity development.
