N-Delta: FG spends N34b on youths studying overseas- Boroh

Special Adviser to the President on amnesty, Gen. Paul Boroh (retd)

The Federal Government, Tuesday, disclosed that it has in the last three years spent well over N34 billon on sponsorship of education of Niger Delta youths studying in various institutions of learning across the world.

     The coordinator of the  Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig-Gen Paul Boro, rted, said this at the 3rd Quarterly meeting of Ministers of Niger Delta Affairs, petroleum Resources Ministry, Governors of States in the Niger Delta and multi-national oil companies operating in the region, held in Abuja.

Meanwhile, to ensure a well coordinated and fast tracking of projects implementation, the stakeholders have unveiled a Draft Report on work plan for the region covering 2017 to 2019.

In his address at the meeting, Gen. Boroh, who emphasised on adverse implication of the conflict in society, said the Nigeria must do everything to ensure we achieve that to prevent conflict.

According to him, “Most of last week, I was at the United Nations headquarters, New York city in the United states of America, USA, for the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, and I showed them what we have being doi8ng in the Niger Delta region.

“By the time I finished and gave them our compendium, they were amazed. They were happy and they tasked us to be on standby to help in resolving the militancy in Cote d’Ivoire. That means the world is aware of what we are doing to achieve stability and development in Niger Delta.

“Cote d’Ivoire government is gong to contact Nigerian Government and they will call on us to tell them the platform which is putting in place towards achieving peace in the region.

“It is very expensive programme, no doubt about it. Peace is expensive. It is better imagined, we will do everything to ensure we achieve that to prevent conflict. I have seen conflict, violent conflict for that matter and I don’t want to see it again in our country.

“let us do all we can to achieve peace by ensuring that meetings of this nature are attended with open mind and discuss objectively on how best we can resolve our differences. Let me just give an instance of what Federal government has spent on the area of education on the Presidential Amnesty Programme. The least amount in the past three year is about N34 billion.

“That why you hear of graduations in the United Kingdom, graduations in USA, graduation in Philistine, South Africa. It is huge. This year alone, the Federal Government has graduated 177 beneficiaries from the Presidential Amnesty Programme in the United State, and 140 beneficiaries from United Kingdom.

“Calculate that in Pounds Sterling and US dollars, it is expensive. Please, let us appreciate the federal government for what it is doing towards ensuring peace and stability and development of Niger Delta region.”

In his address, the convener and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani, announced the forum has received a draft report on work plan which will serve as guide for projects citing and implementation in the next one and half years.

According to him, “But today, we are able to see a draft report of the 2017 to 2019 work plan. We are not saying action plan or master plan, we are saying work plan.

“That means by this plan our work will be guided. So we are not just formulating what we will do, we are now talking about how we will do, where we will do it, who will do it. That is why it called a work plan for one and half years-between 2017 and 2019.

Usani explained further that, here today, we have come to a reasonable point in our design. There are many plans, there are many programme. Here is not just another one.

“Here, we have established input from the party doing development helping us to carry out careful analysis on which Oil Company is taking action where, which party is acting where to be able to align all our interest and make sure we eliminate all forms of duplication.

“So first choice is tied to the interest of the organisation in carrying out development are going to be put up in the tabular form so as regard in can know exactly what or which company is doing well.

“On our agenda, we also have domesticating oil and gas business in the region. By that I want you to have confidence. We have several complains oil people not carrying out businesses in their location of operation and complains especially the host community that the oil companies don’t recognise them and so on.

“What the Executive secretary of the local Content Development Board has said is going to apply to us. Whereby by deliberate policies, this thing will have to be formulated in the manner whatever accrued to the community everybody will know.

So, false claim will no longer be tenable. Because we will want the community to be involved in a manner that whatever gains they are from what they executing in their region go down to the benefit of the community.”

 Vanguard News.