The Ijaw Youths Network (IYN) has urged President Bola Tinubu to ignore distractive calls by self-styled stakeholders to scrap the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
The IYN said those calling for the scrapping of the PAP are uncomfortable with the story of peace and stability in the region and they are clearly not motivated by patriotism and genuine concern for the Niger Delta and Nigeria.
The IYN, in a statement signed by its ;president, Frank Ebikabo, and the secretary, Federal Ebiaridor, said the call being championed by ethnic chauvinists was designed to distract the new leadership of the PAP and it does not deserve attention from serious minds.
The IYN was responding to comment made by one individual, who claimed wildly on national television that there was corruption in the PAP and that the agency had not achieved anything in spite of the money spent on it by the federal government.
The group condemned the claim by the individual that only one ethnic group was laying claim to the PAP, adding that what the Niger Delta needs at this time is not the promotion of divisive ethnic sentiments and the use of same to attack a functional agency making impacts in the region but concerted efforts for development.
The IYN said the PAP has contributed immensely to the sustenance of prevailing peace in the oil-rich Niger Delta through its well thought-out programmes.
The group noted that it cannot be contested that several ex-agitators and people from impacted communities are excelling in various sectors of the economy after receiving training under the PAP.
The group noted further that several beneficiaries of the programme are gainfully employed as air traffic controllers, flight instructors, aircraft maintenance engineers, pilots, underwater welding among others from the various states of the Niger Delta. He added that but for the PAP, many of them would not have had the opportunity to acquire such high-level manpower training.
The IYN stated that several others who were trained and empowered through the programme are doing well in diverse trades such as fashion design, unisex salon, fish farming, baking and confectionary, rice production, hairdressing, cement and building materials and several others.
The group said: “While it is not our intention to bring the odious inter-ethnic wrangling in the Niger Delta to the fore at this point, we find it obligatory to condemn the reprehensible act of hiding under the toga of ethnicity to attack the PAP. What the Niger Delta and indeed the country needs at this point is unity and concerted efforts for development. As a region, we have suffered too much and cannot afford these antics that have held us down.
“We listened to the desperate call by the individual, a supposed Niger Delta activist who called for the scrapping of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. He told his interviewers that the PAP has failed and must be discontinued, citing corruption in the agency. Even more regrettable was the fact that the supposed Niger Delta activist claimed only a set of ethnic nationality had laid claims to the Presidential Amnesty Office. This is untrue and misleading.”
