Posted on Sep 11 2016 - 1:16am by Paul Ogbuokiri Views: 44
Say oil production has destroyed farmlands
Ex-militant leaders in the Niger-Delta region have described the purported plan by the Federal Government to train no fewer than 500 ex-militants in agriculture and aquaculture, as a Greek gift. They said the Niger-Delta region has lost its farmland to pollution caused by years of oil production in the region.
They wondered where the Federal Government wants the trained farmers to get land to practice farming when they complete their training. They further said that the plan will not do the ex-militants any good and would amount to a distortion of the amnesty programme, which set out to train the youths in any vocation of their choice in the country or abroad.
An ex-militant leader, from the Urhobo nation, General Emma Shobor, who disclosed this at the weekend through his Publicity Secretary, Okiemute Kasiaka, said most of his former boys who have remained peaceful and have ensured that the Urhoboland is not dragged into the ongoing resurgence of militancy in the region, are not happy with the reported plan by the Amnesty Office to compel all of them to train in farming, not minding what is their area of interest.
According to him, the boys want to be trained in aircraft engineering, marine and nautical engineering among others, just as their counterparts from the Ijaw nation.
In the same vein, the spokesperson to the Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF), Capt Mark Anthony, also said his group will reject any attempt to train all the ex-militants on agriculture as it will not bring any form of fulfillment to the cry of the Niger Delta ex agitators.
Also speaking, the National Secretary of Niger Delta Initiative for Actualization of Peace and Development (NDIAPD), Evang. M.O. Sekegor, said the peace and development of the people in the Niger Delta will be jeopardize if the will of the ex agitators is not considered in the planned training programme “because when we fail to arrest and address the root cause of any problem no matter how much windowdressing we do, someday somehow, the problem will resurface and more dangerously than it was initially.”
He appealed to the Coordinator, Amnesty Office and Special Adviser to the President on Niger-Delta, Brig-Gen Paul Boro (Rtd), to listen to what the ex militants are asking for, for the sake of peace and safety in the region. It will be recalled that Brig-Gen Boro (Rtd), recently disclosed that the Federal Government will soon commence training of 500 ex-militants in agriculture and aquaculture under its amnesty programme. Boro disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) shortly after his visit to Bio-resources Development Centre (BIODEC), Odi in Bayelsa .
He said some of the exmilitants would be sent to Songhai Farms in Delta State, while others would be deployed to the various agriculture programme departments at the Delta State University, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, and the Peremabiri Rice Farms in the state.
He also said that the would-be trainees were selected from Akwa-Ibom, Abia, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers states. The special adviser said the training would create jobs and wealth for the youths, especially now that the country intends to diversify the economy.
According to him, 18 other ex-militants had acquired skills in aquaculture under the programme. He promised that loans would be made available to the beneficiaries to enable them to establish businesses after the training.
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