PAP scholars win UK awards as Eradiri backs Tinubu’s re-election
Two beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) graduated with distinctions and cash prizes from British universities, underscoring the programme’s role in education and human capital development in the Niger Delta.
The beneficiaries, Joy Jonny and Prince-Timothy Wokoma, received academic awards for their outstanding performances at their respective institutions.
*Udengs Eradiri
Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa
Two beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) graduated with distinctions and cash prizes from British universities, underscoring the programme’s role in education and human capital development in the Niger Delta.
The beneficiaries, Joy Jonny and Prince-Timothy Wokoma, received academic awards for their outstanding performances at their respective institutions.
Jonny won the George and Lilian Adam Smith Prize at the University of Aberdeen, alongside a £500 cash award for securing the highest mark in her dissertation.
In a letter dated October 28, 2026, the Head of the University’s School of Social Sciences, Prof. Joanne McEvoy, congratulated her on the achievement, explaining that the prize was awarded to the student with the highest dissertation mark.
Similarly, Wokoma graduated as the best overall student in the Agriculture and Environmental Science programme, earning a £100 cash award from his university.
In a congratulatory letter, the institution praised his hard work and commitment to academic excellence, describing the award as recognition of exceptional merit.
Reacting to the achievements, the Media Director of the Bayelsa State chapter of the Tinubu Support Group (TSG), Engr. Udengs Eradiri, described the graduates’ success as evidence of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to education and human capital development in the Niger Delta through the PAP.
Eradiri, a former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, said the programme had sponsored more than 9,000 Niger Delta students in institutions within and outside Nigeria under the Tinubu administration.
He added that it had produced more than 111 master’s and doctoral graduates, as well as several first-class and second-class honours graduates.
He also commended the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Brutu Otuaro, for aligning the programme with the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda through an educational framework designed to address the Niger Delta’s human capital development needs.
According to Eradiri, Otuaro has demonstrated commitment to repositioning the programme by sustaining its focus on education, skills acquisition and the production of employable graduates.
He further attributed improvements in the programme’s operations to the timely release of funds by the Tinubu administration, saying this had helped address operational challenges and reduced protests previously associated with the scheme.
“We commend Otuaro for reforming PAP and redirecting its focus towards closing the human capital development gap in the Niger Delta. The programme under Tinubu has produced a critical mass of employable Niger Delta indigenes.
“Tinubu inherited PAP at a time when there were calls for its scrapping because of its past failures. But the President, out of his commitment to the Niger Delta, chose to sustain and reform it to deliver development and prosperity to the region.
“With the achievements already recorded, it is clear that President Tinubu has the best interest of the Niger Delta at heart. He has demonstrated commitment to addressing one of the region’s critical needs, which is human capital development,” he said.
Eradiri said the programme’s achievements had strengthened the case for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, urging Niger Delta stakeholders to support the President’s bid for a second term.
He also cautioned against what he described as unrealistic campaign promises by opposition candidates, insisting that the region should consolidate on the gains recorded under the current administration.
“The examples of Joy and Wokoma show that President Tinubu’s investment in Niger Delta education through PAP is yielding tangible results.
“He has been tested and trusted in the Niger Delta and has demonstrated a template for the sustainable development of the region.
“This is no time to experiment with candidates making unrealistic promises. It is time for stakeholders to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election to enable him to consolidate the gains already recorded in the Niger Delta,” he said.
