He added that employment, wealth and job creation policy of government can not be achieved if the unemployed youths are not trained. According to him, this is to make them employable by introducing them to some skills and vocations as well as providing them with information that could actually help them to be employable. The commissioner opined that the mandate of his ministry could be expanded beyond just taking care of the capacity building of civil servants and be extended to covering the private and informal sectors. The University don said there are lot to do in the ministry that borders on building capacity, stressing that identifying areas of need within or outside the civil service will help the ministry to deliver on its mandate.

To mark the 2023 International Day for Poverty Eradication the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), has reiterated its commitment to fighting hardship through its initiatives in the Niger Delta region, particularly in the lives of ex-agitators.

Its Interim Administrator, Major General Barry Ndiomu (Rtd), told journalists yesterday in Abuja that scheme under his leadership is creatively setting up opportunities to impact the lives of former agitators, beyond dependence on the N65,000 monthly stipends.

Harping on this year’s theme of the Poverty Eradication Day, ‘Decent Work And Social Protection: Putting Dignity In Practice For All’, Ndiomu said the initiatives that the PAP has so far introduced, will create windows of opportunities for former agitators to escape the prediction of the World Bank which estimated that in the next decade, “one billion young people will try to enter the job market, but less than half of them will actually find formal jobs.”

He noted that the already floated PAP Cooperative Scheme for ex-agitators, empowerment/vocational trainings and many more initiatives that are still in the pipeline, will solve poverty and change the negative narratives of the region.

According to him, over 700 former agitators have so far received funding in loans to undertake Agribusiness and other lucrative ventures, while 2500 applications are waiting to be processed.

He highlighted the 75 pilots and aircraft engineers sponsored by the Presidential Amnesty Programme to various Aviation Training Organizations (ATO’s) in Lagos (Nigeria), Johannesburg (South Africa) and Toulouse, (France) for type-rating courses as part of its aviation training scheme.

Ndiomu recalled that when late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua instituted the Presidential Amnesty Programme in 2009, the age range of ex-agitators who laid down their arms, was between 25 to 30. 14 years later, he noted that they have now hit an unemployable age range of between 50 to 55 years.

With this reality in mind, Ndiomu downplayed PAP’s drive to channel the mindsets of ex-agitators away from formal employment and entitlement mentality, towards more viable and sustainable means of livelihood.

The administrator commended President Bola Tinubu, for his determination to give further support and sustain the process and give the PAP more life.

“The President has the interest of the Niger Delta at heart. We will work in line with his Renewed Hope Agenda to change the negative narratives of the region,” Ndiomu said.