N-Delta Amnesty scholarship sold for N800,000 per slot — Pere Luke, Vice Chair Delta Traditional Rulers

•Says since oil hasn’t stopped flowing, it’ll be wrong to end programme

…‘Those fighting Ndiomu want old order’

First Vice Chairman of Delta State Traditional Rulers Council and Pere of Akugbene –Mein Kingdom, Pere Luke S.P, Kalanama VIII, in this interview, reviews the latest developments at the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, saying that ongoing reforms should be encouraged. He also reveals why some people are fighting the current leadership of the scheme. The traditional ruler also speaks on the outcome of the last governorship election in Delta State.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, won the last governorship election in Delta State. Irrespective of that, All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate is challenging the outcome. What is your assessment of the exercise?

I will speak on the entire exercise as it concerns the presidential, governorship, National Assembly and House of Assembly elections. We all saw the failings of the electoral umpire headed by Prof Mahmood Yakubu.

Despite the series of promises he made to Nigerians, he failed to fulfill them. That is why he has thrown the country into a season of litigations. On the governorship election held in my state, as royal fathers, in one of our communiqués, we emphasized the need that all Deltans aspiring for governorship and House of Assembly positions confined themselves to issue-based campaigns and not campaigns of calumny. We urged them to focus on what they can do for Delta. From 1999 to date, PDP has governed the state. It has been like that from Chief James Ibori to date. The major challengers of the PDP this time were all in the party before they defected at some point. The election was fiercely contested by the PDP and APC. At the end of the day, PDP scored majority votes in 25 local government areas. As I said, if the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had lived up to its responsibility, the litigations we see today may not be this much. Those who failed in the elections would have taken their loss in good faith while losers extend an olive branch. INEC gave room for people to go to court, seeking redress. I would advise that in Delta, winners should be magnanimous in victory while losers accept that elections have come and gone. The next elections offer them an opportunity. However, those who went to the tribunals are exercising their right since they feel aggrieved. For me, it is the right thing to do. My appeal is that it shouldn’t result in a crisis as we see in other states where opposing parties fight at the tribunals.

Delta is a multi-ethnic state. And people gave the immediate past governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, kudos for properly managing this diversity by ensuring there was ethnic harmony. What is your advice to the present government in that regard?

I must commend Okowa for what he did in the area of peace-building and conflict resolution in Delta State. Yes, Delta is multi-ethnic. Our diversities must be used in our interest and not to have acrimony among various ethnic groups. There was this infamous Warri crisis in the past. Ibori inherited a state that was bedeviled with ethnic strife. He came in and set up various organs to deal with the monster in the state. He created a ministry of conflict resolution, which was headed by then labour leader, Ovuozurie Macaulay. Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan who became Secretary to the State Government, played a major role. Director of State Services, Amao, also ensured there was peace in Delta State. Successive administrations built on the legacy of bringing Deltans together. Okowa also came in when there were pockets of violence in some parts. Because he was part of the Ibori and Uduaghan governments, those mechanisms that had been put in place were used to manage the situation. Alongside the traditional rulers, we were able to ensure there was peace and harmony. One can convincingly say there was no known ethnic crisis in Okowa’s eight years. There were one or two issues like the Ogbeh Ijaw/Aladja crisis, which had festered but were not as bad as the Warri crisis. The governor was able to manage the situation with the support of the royal fathers. Our current governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, who I came into contact with in 2011 when he was the state government’s representative in the Amnesty Programme, was involved in the peace-building architecture in Delta State.

Justice

Don’t forget that he became the longest-serving Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly before becoming the governor. He is someone who has learned the ropes. In one of his outings, he told Deltans that he is taking the route Okowa took. He equally said that irrespective of tribe, his administration would be all-encompassing. Justice, fairness and equity are antidotes to crises. Of course, his MORE Agenda talks about security. Since he has been part of government, we are confident that he is a peace builder and would therefore bring his experience to bear. As royal fathers, we have pledged our unflinching support as we did to previous administrations in the state. Royal fathers are connected to the grassroots and help in having a conducive environment for government to work. In Delta, government always partners with traditional rulers to ensure the state remains the most peaceful in the Niger Delta.

On the Amnesty Programme you mentioned, since the coming of Gen Barry Ndiomu, retd, so many reforms have been initiated. Are the reforms necessary and have they achieved anything?

Gen Ndiomu assumed office as the administrator of the scheme on September 19, 2022. He has recorded giant strides in the area of rehabilitation, reintegration and retraining of Niger Delta youths. My first encounter with the current Delta State governor was when he represented the state in the programme in 2011. I was also a member of the sub-committee on rehabilitation and reintegration of the ex-agitators. Since then, we became very close to date. We started with Gen Abbe, Timi Alaibe and Kingley Kuku. It was when Kuku took over from Alaibe that our services were disengaged from the Amnesty Programme. As an active participant in the development process of the Niger Delta, Ndiomu came in when there were schisms from various quarters. He came in at the time Gen Paul Boroh, retd, was accused of mismanaging the office. Thereafter, Dikkio came in and the place was still riddled with allegations of fraud. But when Ndiomu assumed office, he recorded some giant strides. He took over when there were about 1,300 students on scholarships, both at home and overseas. Some of the students were regularly protesting over non-payment of their allowances and tuition in various places. The Amnesty Office was heavily indebted to various institutions. When Ndiomu came on board, he took care of the challenges in the scholarship programme. Today, the office no longer owes various institutions of learning the tuition fees of beneficiaries.

The number of those on scholarship has also increased. The debt he inherited on scholarships alone was N4.4 billion. There is no longer uproar from the students. Currently, 847 delegates are undergoing training in NITD Abuja. They are being trained in digital marketing, engineering, technical writing, Google Analytics and social media marketing among others. Considering the record of his immediate predecessors, one can say he has made his mark in a short time. Students no longer barricade the East-West Road at Mbiama axis. He came and insisted that it wouldn’t be business as usual. But some people resist change. These are the people who end up smearing the name of those who bring about change. Today, most of the students, like the pilots who were trained abroad, could not be employed because the training was not completed. The pilots, having undergone training as pilots, have to be type rated. And that hasn’t been done. Type rating is mostly done in the US and South Africa. He has been able to do that.

Without being type-rated, no airline will employ you. Without being type-rated, you can’t fly a Boeing 747, Boeing 737 or a cargo flight.

Fighting

When Gen Ndiomu had an interaction with traditional rulers in the Niger Delta, he promised to set up a cooperative scheme under the Amnesty Programme. Today, a retired justice of the Supreme Court, Justice A. Tabai, is the chairman of the cooperative. The scheme is affiliated to NEXIM and Afrexim banks. They are partnering with the European Union, EU and some Non-Governmental Ogranisations, NGOs. These are laudable achievements under Gen Ndiomu. He is a man of vision. But some ex-agitators claim he is no longer carrying them along. But as I said earlier, they are used to the old order. It was a situation where someone would come up with about 100 names, claiming they are boys under him. By the time you carry out a biometric exercise to ascertain the real numbers, it becomes a problem for these people who are used to the old order. They start kicking against the attempt to profile them, insisting the man must work with the list they provide. But the man in charge said no because he wanted to sanitise the list of amnesty beneficiaries. Before he came on board, some people got many scholarship slots which they sold for N700,000 and N800,000. The price depends on the course the scholarship was meant for. Medicine sold for the highest amount. Ndiomu said the programme must not be used to the advantage of a few. Unfortunately, the beneficiaries of this old order are fighting back. My advice to those fighting him, to discredit what he is doing is to desist.

Oil theft

Last year, a presidential task force was set up on oil theft. And a lot has been unraveled. Government also gave the responsibility of heading the task force to Ndiomu. It showed the level of confidence government has in him. So far, we have seen what he has been able to achieve. I want to advise those youths to see what Gen Ndiomu is doing as being in the interest of Niger Delta. He is ensuring that a few people do not take what belongs to the entire region.

Some of those fighting him are even calling for a change of leadership at the Amnesty Office. Is that what the scheme needs now?

When the programme started, Gen Abe who was the Minister of Interior, midwifed the process. Thereafter, Alaibe took over and things were going on smoothly under him. After him, Kuku did his best until Dikkio came on board. But when Buhari came on board, things took a different turn. The regular change of leadership killed the programme. Gen Paul Boroh was accused of mismanaging the office to the extent that he had a running battle with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC when he was sacked. After him, Dokubo came in but couldn’t properly manage the place. I believe that Gen Ndiomu who came on board nine months ago has done well. In 2011, I was a member of one of the sub-committees and I knew the vision of the office at the time. But when some of these people I mentioned came on board, how many people were trained abroad? If someone is doing well, why call for his removal? In the assessment of royal fathers in the region, Gen Ndiomu is doing well. But if he goes wrong, we would say that he has derailed. Those calling for his removal want the old order. They want development in the Niger Delta to remain stunted. We want to grow. We should even call on government to make him a substantive Adviser to the President on PAP. Rather than calling for his sack, they should call on government to make him a substantive adviser. When there is peace in the region, it will augur well for the nation’s economy.

Amnesty wasn’t created to last forever. Even Gen Ndiomu had said so severally. But some think that government should wind up the programme. However, others are of the view that discontinuing it might lead to another era of militancy in the area…

As far as I am concerned, the programme should continue. Government has been drilling oil from the region without giving back commensurately. It was the injustice perpetrated against the region that brought about pipeline vandalisation and militancy in the zone. When the programme is sustained, with indigenous people of the region benefiting, there would be a sense of belonging. As much as oil hasn’t stopped flowing in the Niger Delta region, it would be wrong to end the programme. The scheme should continue. I know people whose lives have been transformed through PAP. Because these people are employed, the multiplier effect impacts the region. The more people you train, the better it becomes for society. I would plead that government doesn’t think of stopping the programme. Rather it should fund the programme more. The cooperative that was introduced would bring more youths on board and would lead to enduring peace in the Niger Delta.