PAP: Vocational Training Centres Will Be Completed & Operational As Expected – Ndiomu

The management of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), has expressed strong commitment towards completing and activating all vocational training centers of the programme across the oil-rich Niger Delta region specifically.

According to the amnesty office, the completion of the vocational training centers in the Niger Delta region will facilitate the programme attain its full potential by creating sustainable livelihoods towards ensuring the sustainability of the beneficiaries.

The Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Maj-General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (rtd), made this known while addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

Maj-General Ndiomu reiterated that the amnesty programme has served its purpose, stressing that there are some areas that has not reached the expected full capacity, especially the completion of vocational training centers to train beneficiaries.

“If we are able to complete these vocational training centers in the Niger Delta region, then we can be rest assured of the training of teeming restive youths in the region to be self-reliant and self-employed.

“One of the major areas I have being working towards relentlessly since I came on board, is to source for funds for the completion of these projects (vocational training centers).

Maj-General Ndiomu expressed his displeasure over the long-standing complaint by International Oil Companies (IOCs) that youths in the region lack the requisite industrial skills to be employed, which is a wrong narrative that the amnesty office is working hard to change.

He urged state governments and other interventionist agencies in the region to complement the efforts of the presidential amnesty programme in creating job opportunities for teeming youths in the region.

While responding to questions on possible threats from ex-agitators in the Niger Delta, Maj-General Ndiomu reiterated that at the time of disarmament, not all armed groups agreed to lay down their arms, however, the presidential amnesty programme was solely established to cater for those who embraced amnesty.

Maj-General Ndiomu added that the Presidential Amnesty Programme Cooperative Fund unlike other similar initiatives in the past, is strategically set up to create sustainable livelihoods for beneficiaries, which has been carefully handed over to professional consultants to guide and mentor beneficiaries to attain success.