PAP: Ex-agitator appeals to Tinubu to appoint N’Delta activist as coordinator
Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa
Pastor Reuben Wilson has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to appoint a credible participant in the Niger Delta struggle as Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
Wilson, an ex-agitator is the immediate past President of the First Phase Leaders of PAP and South-South Coordinator of The Asiwaju Group (TAG), an APC support group.
The ex-militant leader made the call in a statement issued on Tuesday in Yenagoa.
Wilson said the amnesty scheme in its original concept is central to the sustenance of peace in the Niger Delta as such it should not be left in the hands of those who know nothing about the foundational philosophy of the programme.
He noted that the call to appoint credible and critical stakeholders as the Amnesty boss is premised on the need to effectively reposition the programme to achieve its aims and objectives.
He stated that PAP has derailed from its original concept because persons who are not part of the struggle are appointed as coordinators.
He observed that there were competent beneficiaries of the programme who can run the programme but are abandoned for others who are not part of the programme.
“I wish to most humbly call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appoint a credible stakeholder in the Niger Delta struggle as Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
“The programme has become a platform for the engagement of all sorts of people that were never part of the programme. The original beneficiaries of the programme that are officially captured are abandoned.
“As the immediate past President of the First Phase Leaders of the programme and a critical stakeholder in the Niger Delta Struggle, I am greatly concerned and worried by the way the programme is being run in recent years,” the statement read in part.
Wilson said that he was part of the first set of Ex-Niger Delta Agitators that met with late President Musa Yar’Adua who proclaimed the amnesty, and building the leadership of ex-agitators has been left out.
He noted that the rehabilitation, empowerment and re-integration components of the amnesty programme have suffered neglect.
Wilson attributed that the sustenance of the existing peace in the Niger Delta region should be prioritised by the Tinubu-led administration to achieve economic development.
He also appealed to President Tinubu to sustain the programme until the entire captured beneficiaries are trained and empowered.
“Mr President should never listen to people calling for the ending of the programme without fully actualizing its mandate, for such will cause another round of unrest in the Niger Delta region.
“Anyone calling for the stoppage of the programme is an enemy of this administration and the country in general.
“What is needed urgently is the appointment of a credible person that knows the fundamentals of the programme that can effectively run it in accordance with its founding principles and not stop it without realizing its mandate.
“I want his administration to succeed in transforming Nigeria without unnecessary distractions. I believe in his capacity to holistically transform Nigeria as a visionary and transformational leader,” Wilson said.
The South-South Coordinator of TAG support group noted that the time-tested leadership prowess attracted him and his followers to work for the emergence of Tinubu as president.
Wilson noted that a peaceful environment in the Niger Delta region is fundamental to oil and gas exploration and production to generate the much-needed revenue to drive the nation.
