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As controversy continues to rage in the Niger Delta over the appointment of a new administrator for the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), groups in the region have called on President Bola Tinubu to consult “critical stakeholers” before making the appointment.
In a release made available to our correspondent on Thursday, the South-South coordinator of The Asiwaju Group (TAG), Chief Reuben C. Wilson, advised President Tinubu to seek the input of “key stakeholders” such as High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (a.k.a. Tompolo), King Ateke Tom, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, Mr Ebikabowei Victor-Ben (a.k.a. Boyloaf), High Chief Bibopre Ajube (a.k.a. Gen. Shoot at Sight), before taking “the right decisions concerning the Presidential Amnesty Programme.”
Wilson, who lamented the level of “leadership failure” at the PAP, commended Tinubu for “proactively averting the NLC/TUC planned nation-wide strike in protest against the removal of the fuel subsidy, by engaging the labour and trade unions in frank and fruitful deliberations.
“Mr President, the way you promptly allayed the fears of the union leaders and made them suspend their planned strike is highly commendable and a true testament of your pragmatic and visionary leadership.”
He however urged President Tinubu to deploy the “same pragmatic and visionary leadership skills to revamp the Presidential Amnesty Programme and make it more effective. The programme is currently suffering from monumental leadership failure, which has led to its bastardization and complete derailment from its foundational principles and objectives.
“Mr President should solve the leadership problem of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, by consulting key critical stakeholders and direct beneficiaries of the Programme, before appointing the next coordinator of the programme.
“This is to avoid serious crises that may arise to shatter the existing peace in the Niger Delta region by repeating same mistake of appointing non-stakeholders of the Niger Delta struggle or non-direct beneficiaries of the programme as coordinators of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, without the inputs of key stakeholders and direct beneficiaries of the programme,” he said.
Wilson urged Tinubu to “hear from key critical stakeholders such as High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (a.k.a. GOC, Tompolo), HRM, King Ateke Tom, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, Mr Ebikabowei Victor-Ben (a.k.a. Gen. Boyloaf), High Chief Bibopre Ajube (a.k.a. Gen. Shoot at Sight). This is to enable Mr President make the right decisions concerning the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
“The Presidential Amnesty Programme has derailed greatly from its original design and objectives due to the appointment of people who don’t know anything about the programme and weren’t involved in the activities that led to the establishment of the programme.
“Such people use the programme as an opportunity to empower themselves, their family members and friends, leaving out the direct beneficiaries of the programme to suffer. They never made any sacrifices leading to the establishment of the programme and therefore, don’t care about the success or otherwise of the programme. Their primary interest is to use it as a platform for making money for themselves, their relatives and friends, thereby, abandoning the original ideas and objectives of the programme.
“This derailment of the Presidential Amnesty Programme by coordinators who are non-stakeholders is seriously building up renewed security tension in the Niger Delta region that could lead to another round of hostilities, which will have grave negative consequences on the economic well-being of the country. Mr President should consider it as a top priority and act fast to stop it from further derailment in the interest of the country.
“Furthermore, there are also misguided calls from some quarters to end the Presidential Amnesty Programme without fully fulfilling its obligations to the direct beneficiaries of the programme. Such calls are capable of throwing the Niger Delta region into serious security crisis that will negatively affect your administration and therefore, Mr President shouldn’t pay attention to such calls because the people making such inflammatory calls are the real enemies of your government. The reason there is relative calmness and peace in the Niger Delta region is because of the establishment and sustenance of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. Any attempt to end the programme unceremoniously will lead to unimaginable negative consequences,” he said.
Wilson, who is the founder of Pastor Reuben Initiative for Good Leadership and Accountability (PRIFGLA), said he is “one of the critical stakeholders of the Niger Delta struggle and also an ardent supporter of your administration. I therefore, don’t want any avoidable crisis to distract you, hence, this honest and patriotic appeal to you, to consult the above-mentioned key critical stakeholders of the Niger Delta struggle and direct beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, before taking any important decision concerning the programme.
“It is the effective and proper implementation of the programme that is urgently needed to guarantee sustainable peace in the Niger Delta region, for the betterment of the entire country, and not the ending of the programme without fulfilling the purpose for which it was established,” he said.