The Presidential Amnesty Office is to partner with the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI) towards improving the quality and certification of agricultural and other products of Amnesty Programme Beneficiary.

Special adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, gave the assurance at the weekend in Abuja of his readiness to partner on technology incubation, especially in the area of food production.

Fresh initiative to fast-track the training and empowerment of ex-Niger Delta agitators enlisted in the Presidential Amnesty Programme also received a boast recently with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the Amnesty office in Abuja.

The project partnership, which is for the period of three years, is aimed at transforming beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme, including those being employed.

The presidential adviser said no fewer than 2, 500 beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme are to be trained in the fishing sector in line with the Federal Government's Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) to restore growth in the economy.

Since his assumption of office, Prof Dokubo revealed, he has ensured that the amnesty programme has been given a different outlook through new initiatives for the rapid development of the Niger Delta.

Impressed by the new initiative of Prof Dokubo and its positive impact on the region, the South South traditional rulers and elders passed a vote of confidence on him.

The elders of the Niger Delta, comprising Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River and Edo states, under the leadership of Chief Omubo Aruboinoma Harry, led the delegation to the presidential amnesty office in Abuja, where they described Dokubo as the right choice for the office and commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his foresight in appointing him. They subsequently endorsed Buhari for a second term.

Under Charles Dokubo, the elders noted, effective monitoring of offshore students by relationship managers under his watch has reduced agitation of students since he assumed office, he has also directed the onshore education unit to develop a sustainable plan for the next two years. This, they said, includes the preparation of students allowances on a quarterly basis to ensure deadlines were strictly met and to avoid unforeseen circumstances that will warrant late disbursement of funds by the federal government.

For several years, there was sustained restiveness in Nigeria’s oil rich Niger delta region where agitations for resource control by the people particularly unemployed youth, degenerated to armed struggle. The resultant effect was that the nation foreign earnings from crude oil nosedived as the agitators made the region unsafe for exploration activities by oil multinationals, most of which closed shop in the wake of intensified bombing of the oil facilities and hostage taking.

Prof Dokubo revealed that 3,150 graduates of Vocational Training Programme were scheduled for business setup and employment in 2017. Some of the graduates, he said, have been enlisted for employment/business setup this year depending on availability of funds.

Besides, no fewer than 2, 500 beneficiaries of the president amnesty programme are to be trained in the fishing sector in line with the federal government economic recovery growth plan (ERGO) to restore growth in the economy.

Towards this end, over 100 fishing trawlers are to be built in Burutu, Delta State. For the training program, which is expected to commence soon, over 2,000 beneficiaries would be employed at the end of the exercise. And that’s also a plus to the Buhari administration.

Dokubo’s major aim is to reduce the poverty of this region.

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