From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Colonel Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), has called for a stronger relationship with the military to strengthen the momentum of the scheme.
Dikio spoke when he led senior officials of PAP to visit the Nigerian Naval Engineering College, in Sapele, Delta State and the Naval Shipyard Limited in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Dikio, in a statement signed on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Nneotaobase Egbe, said PAP would build on such partnership to further reposition the programme, which he said was going through a lot of transformation.
He explained that as an institution, the military had a vital role to play in the newly-introduced Train, Employ and Mentor (TEM) scheme, designed to provide a new approach to the training and empowerment of ex-agitators.
According to him apart from specialized maritime and engineering courses, the ex-agitators would also be exposed to military discipline and precision.
He said: “I know the military has a lot of highly installed capacity and as much as possible, those of us looking on the outside looking in want to be able to tap into the capacity through knowledge and skill transfer which creates the bridge that enhances the civil-military relationship in our society.
“On the substance of it, the core of the ex-delegates are largely from the riverine communities and so the current management of PAP is of the thought process that they have inherent skills and if we can convert that energy positively, they will contribute to our dominance of the maritime economy.
“And there is a lot, so many of them are beginning to realize that the economy of the Niger Delta is not just oil. There is a lot that can be harnessed if only we keep our heads down and look carefully around us.”
In his remarks, the Commandant of the Nigerian Naval Engineering College, Cdre A. Abdullahi enumerated some of the courses offered by the institution and said they were ready to work with PAP to achieve its intentions for ex-agitators.
Also, the Superintendent of the Naval Shipyard Limited, Rear Admiral SJ Oyegade, pledged the support of the company in the realization of the core objectives of the PAP under Dikio.