Guest Columnist​​ By DENNIS OTUARO

A year ago, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCON) graciously approved my appointment as the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), a multi-faceted initiative conceived by the Federal Government to manage the reintegration of Niger Delta agitators into mainstream society and provide support for communities impacted by years of mindless exploration of crude oil which had devastated the land.  The centrality of the Niger Delta region, Africa’s largest wetland, to our nation’s socio-economic well-being makes national economic development the wider objective of the PAP. In simpler terms, this mean the peace and security of the Niger Delta have serious economic consequences for the country as a whole and the PAP’s role in achieving this is crucial. 

Therefore, fulfilling the goals that gave rise to the Programme is a major challenge, making my role as Administrator both demanding and highly responsible. It is on account of this I wish to place on record my most sincere appreciation to the President for trusting me sufficiently in a crowd of many qualified Niger Delta indigenes to drive the process designed to bring lasting peace and sustainable development to a region that is, by every objective metric, the mainstay of our nation’s economy as home to oil and gas exploration in our nation.

I equally wish to thank the President for his unwavering commitment to peace, security and stability-ingredients needed to accelerate the development of the Niger Delta region. It is also very important to acknowledge the role of the National Security Adviser (NSA), MallamNuhu Ribadu, whose office has been generous with strategic support, without which the PAP’s modest achievements in the last one year would have been very difficult, if not impossible, to record. 

I came to the office with a degree of familiarity with the challenges of the region and those of the PAP. I regard this as a real privilege. I had served on the Presidential Council on the Socio-Economic Development on the Coastal States of the Niger Delta and fortunate to have been a member of the Presidential Committee on the Environment for the Niger Delta. I was also a member of the Delta State Waterways Security Council, serving as the security sub-committee’s Chairman in addition to working at the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC).

These elements, important as they are to the assignment I was handed by the President, do not, on their own, guarantee progress. Other elements play very significant roles. Notable among these is staunch support from the President, the NSA, and the various stakeholders of the PAP. Over the past year, support from these sources has been substantial, and there is increased hope that such will persist, as the Federal Government is fully committed to overcoming the challenges that have dogged the region and the PAP as an interventionist initiative.

Since oil was discovered in the late 1950s, the Niger Delta has been a region marked by significant communal dissatisfaction. Persistent widespread poverty, underdevelopment, and environmental degradation have contributed to a climate of grievance among the local population. The people feel that they have measly benefits in return for their region’s natural endowments, which make the Niger Delta the source of the economic success that supports the unity of Nigeria. 

In the early 2000s, local grievances escalated via greater frequency of militancy, a reflection of the depth of mistrust between oil-bearing communities and the government. This unrest resulted in substantial disruptions to oil production, which generated an overwhelming percentage of the national revenue.

It was against this backdrop that the PAP was established by the UmaruYar’Adua administration in 2009 to address the widespread unrest in the region. The PAP’s objectives include disarming and demobilizing agitators while facilitating their reintegration into civilian life. Additionally, the programme was conceived to provide training and education to equip beneficiaries with skills for economic empowerment and enhance employment opportunities across various sectors. Recognizing its importance, the administrations that succeeded that of the late President Yar’ Adua continued to uphold the initiative.

In terms of implementation, measures prescribed by the PAP (monthly stipend payment to ex-agitators and members of disaffected youth groups; provision of access to vocational training as well as educational scholarships and other educational assistance for beneficiaries and their dependents) have produced mixed results.

For a period, especially after the disarmament and demobilization of ex-agitators who accepted the amnesty initiative, violent agitation subsided. However, underneath the surface, ex-agitators and young people continued to feel restless. Communities fizzed with disappointment as the PAP faced various challenges. One of the most significant was funding constraints, which led to inadequate budget allocations. This hindered the PAP’s effectiveness and its ability to reach all the genuine beneficiaries.

Thus, delays in stipend payments led to growing dissatisfaction and unrest among recipients. This situation was made worse by reports of a lack of transparency and mismanagement, which damaged the credibility and effectiveness of the PAP. Additionally, there were complaints of inefficiencies in resource use resulting in waste and misallocation of funds, further exacerbating the issue.

At a deeper level, the lack of sufficient job opportunities has created challenges for the reintegration of ex-agitators into society. Many of these individuals were unable to acquire the necessary skills because they could not access the training and capacity-building programmes that the PAP envisioned, due to limited opportunities. Additionally, ex-agitators and youth expressed further dissatisfaction because they were excluded from scholarship programmes and other educational assistance initiatives, which were constrained by inadequate funding. 

These conditions revealed a departure from the objectives of the PAP and underscored its failure to fully address the underlying causes of militancy. As a result, there was a resurgence of militant activities that disrupted the country’s oil production, leading to facility sabotage, local unrest, and oil theft. For four consecutive years, the country was unable to meet the production quota of 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In 2023, due to its failure to meet the allocated quota, OPEC reduced Nigeria’s quota to 1.5 million bpd, which the country still could not meet. This situation severely impacted its revenue-earning capacity. 

The current leadership at the PAP recognized that effectively addressing these challenges was crucial to ensuring the initiative’s success and sustainability. As such, its overarching strategy was to earn the trust of the ex-agitators, who were convinced that the new approach was worth their interest. Activities around the new approach have revolved around training ex-agitators to become entrepreneurs who can serve as agents of change within their communities. The approach has as its objective the transformation of a stipend-dependent category into self-sufficient employers and active contributors to the economic prosperity of both the Niger Delta and the nation. 

The outcomes have been heartwarming, as the ex-agitators are involved in various programmes in impacted communities, where they have been discouraging young people from taking to crime and violent agitation. A hefty slice of the success in this regard has been with contributions from the Office of the National Security Adviser, security agencies, environment and minority rights advocates as well as Niger Delta-focused agencies. This synergy is the foundation on which the rise in the country’s oil output is erected.

Also as part of efforts to bolster stakeholder confidence, the PAP leadership decided on consistent multi-stakeholder engagements, which have provided invaluable opportunities to listen to stakeholders, understand their challenges as well enhance their understanding of the Federal Government’s vision for the PAP through clear communication. 

Over the past year, we have held stakeholder meetings with traditional rulers, opinion leaders, women’s groups, youth organizations, community leaders, elders, and camp leaders. The purpose of these meetings was to communicate the Tinubu administration’s vision for the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and demonstrate its commitment to this initiative, aimed at deepening and sustaining the existing peace in the Niger Delta.

To sustain peace, the PAP engaged with various stakeholders and successfully resolved over 100 potentially explosive conflicts, including those within the camps of ex-freedom fighters. Approximately 80 percent of these conflicts arose from inconsistencies in the personal data submitted to the PAP, which affected the monthly stipend payments. 

Over the past 12 months, we have worked hard to enhance the efficiency of the PAP beneficiary help desk at the call center, which has expedited the resolution of beneficiary issues. During this period, the call center received approximately 25,000 phone calls, the majority concerning stipend payments. The remaining calls were related to training and post-training support. Staff working at the call center were sent to a specialized training program to enhance their skills in issue management, conflict resolution, and customer intelligence.

With stipend payment constituting a major source of beneficiary irritation, we have had to institute wide-ranging reforms in the PAP’s data records. About 12,500 beneficiary records were verified, revealing that 783 records were either duplicated or incomplete. The data management reform also allowed the PAP to eliminate 1,129 outdated records and uncover hundreds of data discrepancies, as well as inconsistencies in financial records, which are currently being addressed. 

The PAP’s database update was crucial as it allowed for the review of 9,253 personal records. This review identified individuals who have either graduated or completed their skill acquisition programmes, and it also included 3,215 new beneficiaries in the programme.

The data reform has been central to enhancing the accuracy of the PAP’s operations. It has facilitated seamless data sharing among departments, which has accelerated the achievement of the PAP’s new vision. One significant benefit of this improved system is the easier verification of the enrollment status of approximately 1,700 scholarship awardees across about 70 educational institutions nationwide. Through the data management reform, the PAP identified beneficiaries who discontinued their education and was, as a result, able to prevent further committing funds to tuition and allowance payments.

The savings from this and other reforms in other places have assisted in providing the PAP additional resources to expand its capacity to take on more scholarship beneficiaries. The highest number of scholarship beneficiaries before this dispensation was 500. Currently, the PAP has 1,700 awardees in various institutions.

One of the most significant milestones under the current leadership at the PAP is the reintroduction of the foreign scholarship initiative, which had previously been suspended. For this, I wish to commend the President for his support. Currently, 60 students from the Niger Delta region are studying at prestigious universities in the US, Canada, and the UK. They are receiving a world-class education that will empower them to make a positive impact in the Niger Delta. 

Significant attention has been paid to vocational education, particularly in the maritime and aviation sectors. Over the past year, the PAP has made notable progress by deploying 40 aircraft maintenance engineers for training. These engineers specialize in ERJ-145 and CRJ-900/B737 aircraft. Additionally, the same number of engineers is currently receiving on-the-job training at top-shelf organizations like Seven Star Global Hangar and Aero Contractors Limited.  The PAP sent four cadet pilots for type-rating training in South Africa, from where they have since returned to the country after graduation.   

Maritime training has received a similar level of focus aviation has attracted, with about 100 cadets currently undergoing refresher courses at the renowned Joemarine Institute towards their Officer of the Watch (OOW) certification.

The series of small steps taken has led to a significant reduction in militant activities, resulting in enhanced security and stability in the region. This decrease in communal tensions has also been reflected in a drop in pipeline vandalism, terminal shutdowns, and other operational disruptions. A striking indication of this progress is the increase in the country’s oil output, including condensate, which rose to 1.81 million barrels per day (bpd) in January 2025, up from 1.667 million bpd recorded in December 2024.

In any language, this spells impressive, especially considering that for many years, the country has struggled to meet the production quota allocated to it due to the disturbances and crimes in the region. It is important to highlight that this result-oriented, multi-faceted approach to addressing the long-standing issues of marginalization and the general lack of socio-economic development in the Niger Delta is part of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. At the core of his administration’s agenda is the goal of restoring sustainable peace, security, and stability in the Niger Delta. The progress being made points toward a more promising economic outlook for Nigeria.

•Otuaro (PhD), Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, writes from Abuja