From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), has appealed to the Niger Delta people in the Diaspora to come home and invest their money in the region.
Dikio took his time to reel out various opportunities in the region, especially in maritime, agriculture and oil and gas saying the sectors were begging for investments.
Speaking at the 2022 Ijaw Diaspora Convention, which held in New Jersey, USA, on Sunday, Dikio referred to the palm oil sub sector as another opportunity with huge economical potential begging for attention.
He decried the emphasis on crude oil explaining that palm oil had broader market, greater economic value and better profit if serious investments could be made to harness it.
Dikio in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media, Neotabase Egbe, described the opportunities in the region as new market frontiers waiting for investors to unlock them and reap bountiful economic benefits.
He allayed the security fears of those in the Diaspora saying the interventions of the amnesty office had calmed down frayed nerves and restored peace in the region.
He told them that he had redesigned the training programmes of ex-agitators with the introduction of the novel Train, Employ and Mentor (TEM) initiative.
Explaining that TEM was introduced to make ex-agitators competent entrepreneurs and employable citizens, Dikio said with the new concept, the era of dumping beneficiaries after training was over.
He disclosed that currently under TEM 1,500 delegates had been deployed in various reputable companies to pursue careers in maritime, agriculture, oil and gas among others.
Besides, Dikio told those in the Diaspora that the ex-agitators no longer blocked roads because of his efforts to make PAP focus on beneficiaries and his introduction of new conflict resolution system.
Dikio further said his administration created the Strategic Communications Committee (SCC) comprising ex-agitators, who were taught negotiating skills, bridge building, networking and other friendly ways of resolving conflicts.
He also said the tension in the region reduced drastically following his deliberate policy of continually engaging all stakeholders to tackle problems.
The amnesty boss reiterated that his leadership was focused on the mission of making ex-agitators economically self-reliant either through entrepreneurship or paid employments.
Correcting the misconceptions of of PAP, Dikio said: “The broader amnesty package is critical for all to understand because people equate the whole basket of incentives that the Federal Government rolled out at the time of the amnesty declaration to the amnesty programme.
“Amnesty programme is always mistaken for the Niger Delta Recovery Plan with many placing unrealistic expectations on the programme. It is a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration programme, in essence a holding fort to create enabling environment for peace to reign in the Niger Delta.
“It is pertinent to know that the Ministry of Niger Delta and the NDDC are saddled with infrastructural development in the Niger Delta. It is their core mandate.”