A note of caution was given yesterday by Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Hon. Kingsley Kuku, when he affirmed that there is no going back on the 2015 terminal date of the amnesty programme for former agitators in the Niger Delta region.
Kuku explained that any attempt to extend the programme beyond the date is tantamount to anarchy as it could bring about instability in the region emphasizing that it is currently grappling with exit strategy challenges that were not envisaged when the Presidential Amnesty Proclamation was made in 2009 by the late President Musa Yar' Adua.
Speaking as the guest lecturer at the 7th Business Law Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association Section on Business Law in Lagos, Kuku said governors in the Niger Delta states must begin to initiate youth engagement programmes that will create opportunity for empowerment for the ex-agitators in their respective states.
Also the inability to secure jobs for the ex-agitators that have been trained in many technical areas related to oil and gas he explained portends more danger for the region, as the youths may be tempted to seek for means of livelihood through dishonest and illegal activities.
The Special Adviser reiterated that the gains of the programme are likely to be eroded if government fails to close the programme by 2015 because of fresh agitations for enlistment by youths of the region, who now see militancy as a way of accessing public funds.
He said it would be better to train people who seek empowerment rather than just distributing money to youths who do not add value to economic activities.
Concerning the current stipends dished out to beneficiaries, he canvassed equity in the stipends paid to ex-agitators in training in various tertiary institutions, as opposed to those who collect monthly stipend that are awaiting to be sent for training.
He sought for a reduction of the N65,000 paid to beneficiaries in training to the statutory N18,000 pegged as minimum wage, such that those who are undergoing training do not earn far more than those awaiting training.
"It will be in the best interest of Nigeria for government to terminate the presidential amnesty programme by 2015. If it is not closed by 2015, it will lose its taste. This is because it will become an alternative government in the Niger Delta region.
"We are currently battling exit strategy challenges. If we reduce the monthly stipend to those in training to the prescribed minimum wage for the country, which is N18,000, it would discourage more people to take to militancy".
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