The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has lauded the efforts of the interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland Dikio (retd.), in delivering the amnesty mandate.
Sylva spoke at the weekend when he received Dikio at his country home in Okpoama in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
He frowned at the inability of the various interventionist agencies set up by the Federal Government to address the concerns of the people of the Niger Delta.
He said that the time had come to make such agencies work for the benefit of the people of the region.
Sylva, however, commended Dikio for delivering on the mandate of the scheme with lean resources, saying his remarkable achievements were a clear demonstration of his desire to be on the right side of history.
He called on the leaders of the region to close ranks to attract more development and lauded Dikio’s Train, Employ and Mentor scheme, saying it had made the training of ex-agitators more rewarding.
He said, “We have to as a people stand together. We have had the Presidential Amnesty Programme for a long time but we have not been fortunate. If you look at what the programme was meant to achieve, we have currently not achieved it.
“This is because for some reason we have not been very fortunate. We can say that too for the NDDC. If you look at the two organisations there are some reoccurring decimals. The people who started these organisations are similar or the same persons. So, why are these organisations not delivering on the benefit that we expect from them? That is a great food for thought.
“Something is wrong. In the design, some people deliberately twisted it so that it will suit their own personal aggrandisement instead of helping the growth of the Niger Delta.”
The minister continued, “But you (Dikio) have come at this juncture of history and we are very proud of you because you’re doing very well. We must say that you’re even late in the day because today the amnesty programme is not even getting as much as it used to get.
“If at this moment you’re doing so much with the little you’re getting, we can only imagine what you would have done during the hay days of the amnesty programme when there was a huge cash flow.
“Every time I see the National Security Adviser, I thank him for you and I have always pledged my support that anything required from me concerning the amnesty programme I will willingly do it.”
Sylva also called for collective efforts to fight against all forms of attack on the Niger Delta, particularly the destruction of the region’s environment.
He said the region was at risk of extinction because of the harmful practices of a few misguided elements who engaged in the mindless attack on oil facilities.
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