At least 13, 000 former militants will be sponsored to study at various higher institutions, within and outside the country in batches, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe, has said. Mr. Orubebe disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Tuesday, after he inspected the various projects being executed by his ministry and the Niger Delta Development Commission in the oil producing areas of the state.
He said that the involvement of foreign experts in their training, was to give the ex militants the best instructions and knowledge that would stabilise their minds for positive thinking. The minister, however, pointed out that those who staged protests against the slow pace of the amnesty programme of the Federal Government in Abuja recently were not included the plan. According to him, the protesters were not among the 20, 000 youth registered by the federal government before the expiration of the grace period for the submission of arms last year.
Remain calm.
Mr. Orubebe encouraged the former militants to remain calm and allow the government officials handling the project execute programmes that will assist them in becoming a changed person in the society. “The amnesty programme is also on course,” he said. “There are little challenge which are ordinarily expected when one is trying to experiment with a system. Over 20, 000 youths embraced the programme and it is not practical for all of them to be trained at the same time.” He also exonerated President Goodluck Jonathan of politicking at the expense of offering good governance to the people of the country, saying “It is glaring that the mind-set of President Jonathan is not in politics, but wanted everybody to have equal rights, he wants electorate votes to count, Nigeria of his dream is the one where things are done rightly. President Jonathan is interested in obeying the judgment when it is pronounced, politics is out of his thinking, he wants great things for this country and its citizenry.”
