Amnesty programme ‘ll transform Niger Delta, says Dokubo

Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Prof. Charles Dokubo, on Tuesday expressed optimism that new policies and objectives for Presidential Amnesty Programme under his watch will transform the Niger Delta region.

He however, warned that the Amnesty Programme cannot effectively serve its purpose if the people of the Niger Delta are not bonded by a common interest to develop the region.

Speaking in Abuja when a delegation of the South-south Chiefs, Elders and Opinion Leaders Association of Nigeria (SSCEOLAN) paid him a courtesy visit, Dokubo said the Niger Delta region will attain giant strides if the people can positively utilize the instrumentality of the Amnesty Programme provided by the federal government.

“When the federal government brought this programme where we are training our people and sending them abroad, they did it because it is a necessary action.

So, we are going to carry out this programme in an all inclusive manner. Wherever you are from the Niger Delta, you must be part of this programme.

I’m here to carry out what I call reintegration, training, retraining and bringing out Niger Delta people so that they can be as qualified as any other person in Nigeria”.

In a statement by Murphy Ganagana, Special Assistant (Media) to Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme, while expressing dismay over what he described as pull-him-down syndrome prevalent among the people of Niger Delta, Dokubo urged them to be united and work for a common goal.

“I cannot claim to know everything, but I also know that with your experience you can always direct me on the right path so that we can do things the right way.

I came into this place not to criticize anyone but to start from where I was appointed. What I met here is not what I’m here to talk about, but we are all from the Niger delta.

Our idea of pulling down people is too much, and I will not be part of that. For me, where I want Niger Delta people to look into is how we can use this office to benefit our people.

It is not about personal gains; it is about community development. Let us stop agonizing and start organizing, because if we do that, we will help ourselves.

The best thing I have seen in this organization is that we come from different places, but we have one objective. If we can have one objective in the Niger delta, half of our problems will be solved.

My fear is that after 20 years, if we cannot uphold the Niger delta, we cannot empower our people, then Amnesty will kill Niger delta.

I always tell people like that, because the type of behaviour I have seen in this place, where personal interest overrides regional interest, really beats my imagination”.

Dokubo gave assurance of his determination to deliver on the mandate handed him by President Muhammadu Buhari, who he said has the interest on the Niger Delta region at heart.

But he emphasized that due process and statutory provisions will be his guiding principles in the performance of his duties.