Since Juliana Taiwo-Obalonyeabuja
The The Nigerian Police Force, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Nigerian Customs Service have agreed to partner with the Presidential Amnesty Program (PAP) and employ former rioters from the Niger Delta region that they had previously trained.
This was announced in statements by the Special Media Assistant to the interim administrator, Thomas Peretu, who said that the agreement was reached after the leadership of the program participated in a series of public events that focused largely on the formation of alliances aimed at developing platforms that can profitably employ former agitators after their training.
He said that the head of the PAP, Major General Barry Ndiomu (rtd), aware that the program that was introduced in 2009, in the wake of hostilities in the Niger Delta region, was not designed to continue in perpetuity, moved to explore employment opportunities. that would be more durable and beneficial to ex-agitators beyond the PAP.
Ndiomu, the statement said, had visited various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), including security formations which yielded fruitful results on how former agitators under the Amnesty Program could be involved in a bid to help them take full possession of their lives. .
According to the statement, the head of the PAP during his visit to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, requested the support of the Police High Command in the recruitment of ex-agitators in his rank. and file, as well as the officer corps.
Their request was based on the fact that over the years the PAP had trained many young people from the Niger Delta region who would fit the manpower needs of the police based on security training. of the first level that they had received since the beginning of the program 13 years ago.
Baba, who expressed disappointment that potential recruits from the Niger Delta rarely show up for recruitment exercises conducted by force in the region, however, assured the acting administrator that the police are willing to partner with PAP in recruiting officers, especially at the base.
In a similar move, Ndiomu’s recent visit to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to explore ways to incorporate former Niger Delta rioters into the agency’s recruitment, scholarships and capacity-building programs , also yielded positive results.
The interim administrator requested from NITDA that qualified and trained ex-agitators should participate in the Nigerian labor market through a partnership with the agency.
NITDA management agreed to establish an inter-agency committee charged with the responsibility of engaging ex-agitators in the new digital world.
Under this arrangement, former rioters captured under the Amnesty Program would benefit from a series of digital train-the-trainer programs that would offer them the opportunity to earn monthly stipends while improving their digital skills as trainers.
According to NITDA DG, “graduates of the agency’s training programs will be given the necessary tools to compete with their counterparts elsewhere as global digital entrepreneurs or global employees.”
At the Nigerian Customs Service headquarters, where he met Comptroller General Hameed Ali, Ndiomu was assured that the service would partner with PAP on future recruitment exercises that could take place before the end of the current democratic dispensation. .
He told Ndiomu that the service would be fair to all Nigerians, regardless of their home state.
