May 9, (THEWILL)- The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Chief Dennis Otuaro, PhD, has expressed commitment to sustaining the peace, security and development in the Niger Delta through the amnesty programme in line with the vision of President Bola Tinubu.
This was just as the Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, said 26 PAP scholarship students in the institution bagged first class.
Otuaro spoke on Wednesday, when he visited Igbinedion University, Okada and Benson Idahosa University, Benin, in Edo State, to interact with the universities’ management and students on the PAP scholarship in the two institutions.
The PAP Administrator, in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, said he would implement the amnesty programme effectively to build confidence in the region and garner support for the Federal Government.
He said: “The Presidential Amnesty Programme is crucial for fostering enduring peace in the Niger Delta. By implementing it efficiently and effectively, we can garner greater support for the Federal Government’s efforts to promote security and development in the Niger Delta.
“That is the vision of President Bola Tinubu, which I seek to execute. He believes in sustaining the peace of the Niger Delta. With the President’s belief in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, we need to work harder to ensure that the confidence reposed in us is strengthened.”
Otuaro acknowledged that Igbinedion University was the first tertiary institution to accept PAP scholarship students, saying that its graduates were part of the success story of the amnesty programme.
The PAP boss said the amnesty programme office would deepen collaboration with its partners to expand the scope of operations.
He applauded the Founder of Igbinedion University, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, and the university’s management on their 25th anniversary.
Interacting with the PAP scholarship students of both universities, who highlighted some of the challenges they were facing, Otuaro assured them that the amnesty programme office would address the problems accordingly.
He urged them to shun social vices and take their studies seriously in order for them to be declared worthy in character and learning at their graduation.
The Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Prof. Lawrence Ezemoye, in his remarks, said that apart from the 26 first-class graduates, many other PAP scholarship students also got distinctions in professional courses like medicine, nursing, and medical laboratory, among others.
Prof. Ezemoye noted that the programme was impacting greatly on the students, saying, “We have grown beyond entrepreneurial skills, we have grown character.”
The Vice-Chancellor commended the PAP for meeting the obligations of the students under scholarship to put them in the vantage position to excel.
He promised a strengthened collaborative relationship with the PAP in the area of offering opportunities to students in competitive courses like medicine and surgery, nursing, pharmacy, Law and others, especially with the recent increase in its quota of admission.
He said the institution, which is celebrating its silver jubilee anniversary, ensured that there was no discrimination against amnesty programme students, as they share hostels and other facilities with other undergraduates.
Also, the Acting VC of Benson Idahosa University, Prof. Johnson Oyedeji, said the PAP Administrator was an embodiment of encouragement and hope of better days ahead for the scholarship students as well as the existing partnership.
“We thank God for your life. What we are doing is for national security. We are motivated by a desire to sustain the peace for increased oil production,” he said.
The President of the Amnesty Students Association, Wilcox Peremini Zaccheaus, commended the PAP Administrator for being the first administrator to visit the students for interaction and familiarisation.
He thanked the Administrator for the meeting and appealed for an increase in their financial and textbook allowances and provision of laptops, among others.
Amos Okioma is a Correspondent at THEWILL
