Critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta, including leaders of former agitators, community leaders and elders, have warned politicians to desist from attempting to make political fortune of the recently-commissioned Presidential Amnesty Programme Oil and Gas Basic Skills Vocational Training Centre at Agadagba, in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The stakeholders expressed dismay that, barely two days after the world-class facility was launched for commencement of training of beneficiaries of the amnesty programme in oil and gas skills, some people have fraudulently made efforts to re-write history by claiming or ascribing undue credit for establishment of the project.
Reacting to a report captioned ‘Oil & Gas Training Centre: Ondo ex-militants hail Akeredolu, pledges support,’ which was published in the January 21, 2019 edition of a national newspaper, a leader of ex-agitators in Delta State, Timothy Tensibe, said it was the height of deceit and mischief for a faceless “ex-militant” to hail the incumbent governor of Ondo for facilitating the establishment of the facility.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Tensibe, a Phase Two amp leader in the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), said it was disheartening that some people were trying to reap where they did not sow; to score cheap political gains, rather than giving credit to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Coordinator of the amnesty programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, for achieving the feat.
“While we hold belief that the newly-commissioned oil and gas training centre at Agadagba, wholly owned by the amnesty programme, will enhance the training of thousands of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the programme, to fast-track development in the Niger Delta, it is dubious for any individual or group to commend the government of Ondo state for keeping to promises made to former Niger-Delta agitators.
“This is because, besides the fact that the Agadagba Oil and Gas Basic Skills Vocational Training Centre is not an initiative of the Ondo state government, it was solely funded by the Federal Government, through PAP, with a vision driven to an enviable end by Prof. Dokubo, acting on the mandate and guidance of president Buhari.
“Therefore, giving credit for the project to an individual or institution that has no bearing with its conceptualization and implementation amounts to a daylight robbery”, part of Tensibe’s statement read.
The Niger Delta Progressive Forum for Elders and Community Leaders (NDPFECL) also condemned the report ascribing.
Speaking through its Chairman, Chief Deine Amgbaloku, the group described as wicked and nonsensical, attempts to politicize the gains of the Amnesty Programme.
“It is incumbent on all of us, individually and collectively, to give credit to whom it is due as a form of encouragement to attain greater heights.
“But, a situation where a public official, determined to achieve a set objective, worked tirelessly to actualise it and others are taking the glory for political expediency is utterly disgusting. An attempt to reduce the gains of the amnesty programme, under president Buhari’s leadership is disservice to the federal government and the people of the Niger Delta”, the NDPFECL noted.