Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The immediate past governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Henry Seriake Dickson, has congratulated Col. Milland Dikio (retd)on his appointment as the new Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. 
A statement by his Media Advisor, Mr Fidelis Soriwei on Sunday, also quoted the former governor as having commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing another Ijaw son, once again, into the sensitive position.
He described the President’s decision to retain the position in Ijaw land in spite of the pressures as thoughtful and encouraging since Ijaw youths are the predominant participants of the Amnesty Programme.
Chief Dickson urged the new amnesty boss to take advantage of his enviable  experience as a senior military officer of sterling record to unite the ex-agitators and promote peace and stability in the region.
He said that he was not in any doubt that with his experience as a manager of security and human resources within and outside Nigeria in sensitive capacities (in and out of the military) that the new amnesty boss would succeed with the cooperation of all .
Dickson added that while he and majority of stakeholders expected the position  to move to another state, all Niger Delta  stakeholders  should set aside their differences to support Dikio in the collective interest of the people now that the appointment has been made.
The former governor who urged Dikio to give the deserved attention to the training and provision of opportunities for self employment to the youths of the area, advised him to engage all stakeholders in no distant time on how best he can improve on the programme, and make its impact more visible and sustainable.
Chief Dickson called on all ex-agitators, youth leaders and others critical stakeholders to support the new Amnesty boss in his new position
He said that Dikio’s success at the Amnesty office would be in the interest of the Ijaw nation, the Niger Delta and indeed Nigeria.
He also advised all persons  who indicated interest in the job but couldn’t get it to support the new amnesty boss in the overall interest of Niger Delta by making their experiences available to him.
He thanked the National Security Adviser, Maj Gen Babagana Monguno, for the maturity with which he has handled the Amnesty office and for finding ‘our people worthy of trust.’