From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Milland Dikio, has appealed to the newly inaugurated leadership of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) to adopt new approach in its agitation to attract development to the Niger Delta region.
Dikio, who spoke at the weekend in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, during the inauguration of the new INC President, Benjamin Okaba, and his national executive committee, said it was time Ijaw elders embraced development-focused mindset to ensure transformation of the region.
While insisting that the INC should adopt a new thinking and approach of seeking to achieve its desires through strategic collaborations, Dikio said the agitations in the region should move from the streets to boardrooms to rewrite the ugly narrative in the Niger Delta.
“My appeal, therefore, to the new INC leadership is to have a development-focused mindset that will see to the transformation of the region. Its engagement with critical stakeholders, including the Federal Government and the IOCs should be targeted at attracting development and the need to consolidate on our quest for continued and sustained peace in the region.
“PAP, under my leadership, is committed to pursuing such strategic collaborations and partnerships with governments, at all levels, in the region, including working with bodies like the INC to advance the cause of development and peace.
“To this end, we have refocused the PAP to turn our people, ex-agitators and the youths, into entrepreneurs and employable citizens who will be net contributors to the economy of the region,” he said.