Background

From 1958 when oil was first discovered in Olobiri in now Bayelsa State and subsequently, the exploration, the whole of the Niger Delta region where the rich oil wealth of Nigeria lies has been one theatre of the absurd and a complete contradiction of some sorts as the region which sustains the nation groans.

It is one of the least developed regions while its rich produce is used to develop the other parts of the country and its people left in squalor and its environment denuded as a result of unchecked oil exploration.

This tragic developments have the years led to series of agitations for a better living conditions by the people of the region, with the people at a certain point taking up arms against the federal government and the oil companies operating in the region.

Thereby halting the economy of the country as it became difficult for the oil companies to carry on with their activities. These agitations at different times elicited reactions from successive governments.

First, was the creation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ministry of Niger Delta, which has now be made part of the newly created Ministry of Regional Development and then the Presidential Amnesty Programmes (PAP).

Presidential Amnesty Programme

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in granting amnesty to the Niger Delta militants noted in his historic statement on June 25, 2009, “I hereby grant amnesty and unconditional pardon to all persons who have directly or indirectly participated in the commission of offences associated with militant activities in the Niger Delta.”

It was the proclamation of presidential amnesty that later led to the creation of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), which effectively ended the Niger Delta militancy that ravaged the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector between 2004 and 2009, bringing it to a standstill.

It was designed to rehabilitate and reintegrate the armed militia and equipped them for a better future outside of the creeks and jungles of the region that became homes to them at different points.

All of these attempts by the government to attend to the age-long neglect of the region have also elicited different responses from the people who see them as too little and in most cases not well thought out plans to address their endemic problems.

However, the leadership of this body has over the years fallen to bad administration, which has seen continuous agitations by the people and change of its leadership by the government in its bid to address the agitations of the people.

Administrators

Going down memory lane, Air Vice Marshal Lucky Ochuko Ararile was the pioneer Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme. He was appointed on June 25, 2009. He left the scene almost one year after for Major General Godwin Abbe, who was in the saddle all through 2010 and in 2011 Timi Alaibe was appointed as Coordinator in his place.

In the same year, 2011, Kingsley Kemebradigha Kuku, was appointed and held the position till 2015. With the change of administration and the coming in of former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, General Paul Boro, took over and piloted the affairs of the ex-militants until 2018 when Professor Charles Dokubo took over.

In 2022, Major General Barry Ndiomu was appointed and he held the office till 2023. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over the rein of government in 2023, he appointed the present Coordinator, Dr Dennis Burutu Otuaro, in early 2024 to pilot the affairs of the body.

Culture of protests

Just like other coordinators or administrators before him, Otuaro is not spared of the protestations that have dogged the heels of successive holders of that office, with some of them consumed by the conflagration of the protestations, which is most often led by the youths of the region and other bodies.

Some of the issues raised have always being that of alleged corruption by the leadership of the body, neglect of the militants and sometimes nonpayment of their monthly stipends and lack of proper coordination of the activities of the agency.

Otuaro like his predecessors is presently in the eye of the storm as some of youths in the region are up in arms against him, calling for his sack. The present agitations for his removal is coming from the youth group led by Zik Gbemre.

As it has become the culture too, there is also a division within the ranks of the youths, and activists of the region, with some opposed to the call while others are up for it, insisting that he has to go the way of others before him.

How this present development will pan out is yet to be seen as the federal government is mum on it. However, if history is anything to judge by, it is most likely that Otuaro may be biding his office goodbye soon except the elements work in his favour.

Ex-agitators

As the call for Otuaro’s remove continues to gain traction, however, a number of the beneficiaries of the programme under Phases One, Two and Three, have condemned the present call for his removal by the group they described as ‘a faceless group.’

The Phase Two National Chairman, Ibena Rufus Salvation, who spoke during a recent sensitisation and orientation programme for Niger Delta ex-agitators in Yenagoa, commended President Tinubu, for appointing Otuaro as the PAP administrator.

Ibena, in the company of the Phase One National Spokesperson, T. Y Excel, Phase One leader, Lucky Iziri, and Phase Two leaders, Stephen Okiemo and Seaman David, noted that in the history of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, under nine different administrators, after 14 years, nobody has done what Otuaro has done for the beneficiaries.

Salvation said, “We have gathered here as leaders and beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, to appreciate Mr. President and again appreciate Dennis Otuaro for what he has been doing.

“He came to the office and noticed so many complaints from the beneficiaries and leaders. So, he looked into them critically and started solving them.

“Eighty per cent of the problems have been solved and other leaders and beneficiaries have been paid that is why we are here to congratulate and appreciate Dennis Burutu Otuaro.

“We want to use this medium to send a message to those who are making unnecessary publications to stop. The President and the National Security Adviser should disregard and ignore the faceless groups who are writing negative petitions against the administrator.’’

Scorecard

The leader further stressed, “We the leaders and beneficiaries of the programme are very happy with the coordination of Dennis Otuaro. It is on this noted we want to send a message to those behind the publication and petitions to retrace their steps.

“We want to tell the President and the NSA that the Niger Delta people are happy with Otuaro and we are very peaceful. We want to also commend the synergy, the working relationship between the Administrator of the Amnesty Programme, Dennis Otuaro and the Chairman of Tantita, High Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo.

Call for removal

While noting their support for Otuaro, they called for the removal of PAP from the Single Treasury Account (TSA) regime, stress – ing that it is affecting the smooth operation of the body.

“We want also to use this opportunity to plead with Mr. President to detach the office of the Amnesty Programme from the Single Treasury Account because it is not working for the office,” Salvation disclosed.

Salvation continued, “The President and the NSA should know the Amnesty office is a security office, therefore, monies are supposed to be released quarterly to the office to enable the administrator to function properly.

“We want to encourage the administrator that he should ignore and continue with the good work he is doing, he should not border or be distracted.”

Ibiba Don Pedro

In her reaction to the calls, Ibiba Don Pedro, a journalist and renowned female activist and environmentalist from the Niger Delta region, condemned the call for Otuaro’s removal, noting that corruption is fighting back, as those that have held the body in firm control over the years are not pleased with the manner that Otuaro has wrested the body from their grip and forging in a positive direction.

She said that Otuaro was there to deliver benefits to both the women, youths and girls of the region who are well behaved. She said before now, armed persons, and corrupt elements, had turned the programme to their personal empire and a house of fraud for many years, adding that they are the ones fighting back.

According to her, ‘‘Some of the people that looted Boro Vocational Centre Kaiama and some of the people who we know that were part of the looting of that place because of the fake contracts that they awarded to themselves are part of the people fighting back.

They are sponsoring people to make noise because Otuaro has set out to reform the programme. This is the first time in over 10 years that somebody who is an activist and passionate is manning that office.

“The likes of Otuaro are people that have sacrificed and lost their brothers through all sort of attacks on them. These are Gbaramatu people for God’s sake. Who are even the people making this noise? We know them, today I choose not to name them but I know them, they are all Ijaw people and we are all Ijaw people too.

‘‘They are pushing because of the reform going on by Otuaro to change the way they had been doing things there. If he was not doing well, I will be among the first set of people to complain. Some people had turned the programme to a cocoa farm where they give themselves contracts that they never executed.”

Boro Vocational

She condemned in strong terms the fate that befell Boro Vocational Centre, saying, “It was a shameful thing that happened at Boro Vocational Centre and it came from a region where there is so much poverty, where people are not educated and there are millions of people who need funds to set up businesses and people who need empowerment and funds to go to school.

“We cannot continue to be held hostage by people carry guns. Are the issues in the Niger Delta resolved? No. Issues of dis empowerment and environmental degradation are still not over.

‘‘When some turned a programme we all worked for to their cash cow, we will not allow that again. Some of the people causing this trouble are part of MEND. We know but they need to move on. Ijaw land is not about them, they should step aside and eat what they have gathered. Ijaw land is not about them.

“They should allow Dennis Otuaro to do the wonderful work he is doing, bringing in women, planning empowerment for women, educational support for women, and for youths because you cannot talk about reintegration without bringing in everybody who were impacted and that is what he is doing and they should allow him do his work.”

Tonye Bobo

Also in his reaction, Tonye Bobo, former Chairman of Phase Three ex-agitators of PAP said, ‘‘One thing you need to understand is that you don’t expect everybody to like you.

There are people who felt that they are the owners of the programme and everything that wants to take place in amnesty it must get through them.

‘‘This man (Otuaro) since he came wants to get firsthand information of the complaints of ex-agitators and those people are not happy with that. Thai is the way I look at it. These people are just looking for recognition and attention, nothing more.”