Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, Chief Dennis Otuaro, has reiterated that sustaining the peace, security and development in the Niger Delta through the programme was in line with the vision of President Bola Tinubu for the region.
Otuaro spoke on Wednesday, when he visited the Igbinedion University, Okada and Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, in Edo State to interact with the universities’ managements and students on the scholarship of the PAP in the two institutions.
The PAP Administrator in a statement by the Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Igoniko Oduma said that he would implement the amnesty programme effectively to build confidence in the region and garner support for the Federal Government.
He said: “The Presidential Amnesty Programme is crucial for fostering enduring peace in the Niger Delta. By implementing it efficiently and effectively, we can garner greater support for the Federal Government’s efforts to promote security and development in the Niger Delta.
“That is the vision of President Tinubu which I seek to execute. He believes in sustaining the peace of the Niger Delta.
“With the president’s belief in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, we need to work harder to ensure that the confidence reposed in us is strengthened.”
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Otuaro acknowledged that the Igbinedion University was the first tertiary educational institution to accept PAP scholarship students, saying that their graduates were part of the success story of the amnesty programme.
The PAP boss said the amnesty programme office would deepen collaboration with its partners with a view to expanding the scope of operations.
He applauded the Founder of Igbinedion University, Chief Gabriel gbinedion and the university’s management on their 25th anniversary celebration this year.
Interacting with the PAP scholarship students of both universities, who highlighted some of the challenges they were facing, Otuaro assured them that the amnesty programme office would address the problems accordingly.
He urged them to shun social vices and take their studies seriously in order for them to be declared worthy in character and learning at their graduation.
Vice Chancellor of the Igbinedion University, Prof Lawrence Ezemonye, in his remarks, said that apart from the 26 first class graduates, many other PAP scholarship students also got distinctions in professional courses like medicine, nursing, medical laboratory, among others.
The VC of Igbinedion University noted that the programme was impacting greatly on the students, saying”we have grown beyond entrepreneurial skills, we have grown character.”
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The Vice Chancellor commended the PAP for meeting the obligations of the students under scholarship to put them in the vantage position to excel.
He promised a strengthened collaborative relation with the PAP in the area of offering opportunities to students in competitive courses like medicine and surgery, nursing, pharmacy, Law and others especially with the recent increase in its quota of admission.
He said that the institution, which is celebrating its silver jubilee anniversary, ensured that there was no discrimination against amnesty programme students as they share hostels and other facilities with other undergraduates.
Also, the Acting VC of Bishop Idahosa University, Prof. Johnson Oyedeji, said the PAP Administrator was an embodiment of encouragement and hope of better days ahead for the scholarship students as well as the existing partnership.
“We thank God for your life. What we are doing is for national security. We are motivated by a desire to sustain the peace for increased oil production,” he said.
The President of the Amnesty Students Association, Wilcox Peremini Zaccheaus, commended the PAP Administrator for being the first administrator to visit the students for interaction and familiarisation.
He thanked the Administrator for the meeting and appealed for increase in their financial and textbook allowances and provision of laptops, among others.
