Amnesty Programme: “Monthly Stipends Can’t Be Forever” -Ex- Agitator

The monthly sixty-five Thousand Naira for 30,000 ex-agitators in Niger Delta region is not sustainable hence, the need for a proper empowerment of the beneficiaries to be self reliance towards entrepreneurship.

This is according to the Presidential Amnesty Programme(PAP) which has initiated a cooperative society known as presidential amnesty beneficiary cooperative society ( PABCS) to help cushion the effects of the hardship that may arise in case the programme finally terminated.

Nigeria government is paying heavily yearly on the programme and it has enmeshed in corruption since it started in 2009 by late President Musa Yar’ Adua .

Speaking to journalists on Monday in Yenagoa, Tonye Bobo who is the chairman of third phase beneficiaries of the amnesty programme said the cooperative was launched recently in Abuja to enable ex- agitators become entrepreneurs in various fields of endeavours.

He said sensitisation programme on the importance of the recently launched cooperative will commence on Tuesday in Bayelsa State adding that the sensitisation has to kick start immediatly to keep the ex-agiatators abreast of activities of the programme.

Bobo who is also the financial secretary of the cooperative described the programme as life changing nothing that people are eager to know if the cooperatives programme is real or not.

Bobo who also doubles a member of the strategic committee of PAP disclosed that the sum of N1.5billion naira was already in the account of the ex-agiatators to run the programme .

However he disclosed that five million naira would be put into the coperative account monthly for running of the programme.

He added lauded General Barry Ndiomu for the gesture which he said would brighten the future of ex-agiatators.

He said “People are eager to know if this coperative is real or not. This corporative that has been launched is a life changing programme.

” It will not be business as usual where people will be trained , given starter packs and they were sell them or misuse them.

” We are having N1.5b in our account to be managed by the ex-agiatators. On Tuesday, we will be kick starting the sensitisation

“We will talk to our people (ex-agiatators ) from the various states starting from Bayelsa state before we go into business”