In the past few days, some online news portals have published reports credited to two faceless groups – Niger Delta Awareness Coalition and the Ex-Militant Leaders Forum \u2013 calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to sack his Special Adviser on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku.
\nThe two press releases from these obviously sponsored groups bore the same headlines: \u201cWhy We Want Kingsley Kuku Out.\u201d The reasons they gave for wanting the Amnesty Programme chairman out of his seat were his alleged failure, incompetence, greed and treachery.
\nFor starters, anyone accusing Hon. Kuku of failure or incompetence in the running of the amnesty programme really needs medical examination. In their pervasive ignorance, it was obvious they did not know that the amnesty programme for the former agitators in the Niger Delta runs on the typical Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) template of the United Nation, and that it is a novelty in Nigeria. Under Kuku, the reintegration phase of the programme has been hailed as the most successful post-conflict DDR programme in Africa, following the failure of similar programmes in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and even in Haiti.
\nDuring an oversight visit to the aviation training schools for our pilot delegates in South Africa in September 2012 (31 of them are currently undergoing jet\/type-rating training in Germany and Oxford, having qualified as Commercial Licensed Pilots), National Assembly members said they were impressed with Kuku\u2019s handling of the amnesty programme and that funds appropriated to it were being judiciously utilized.
\nVice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman, said during the visit: \u201cWe came here to assess how deep the amnesty programme is. We all know what brought about this programme because Nigeria decided to address a fundamental injustice to a section of the country.
\n\u201cFrom what we have seen and experienced during our interaction with the trainees, I can tell Nigerians that the amnesty programme gives us hope and we are very proud of these youths. The funds allocated to the programme are being judiciously used and we will continue to support and expand its scope.\u201d
\nSimilarly, the Deputy Senate Leader, Abdul Ningi, said: \u201cThe amnesty programme has exceeded our expectations and we are very proud of these young Nigerians. Besides, this is a practical demonstration that the fund allocated to the programme is not a waste. It is not money down the drain.\u201d
\nJust like the Senators, the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta, Hon. Warman Ogoriba, stated that Kuku has succeeded in dismissing the cynicism towards the programme.
\nHis words: \u201cWhen amnesty was granted (in 2009), most Nigerians thought that nothing good would come out of it. But now the story is different. Our youths are being trained all over the world in critical sectors. We are very impressed.\u201d
\nIs that the man so glowingly eulogized by other patriotic Nigerians that some persons hiding behind a mask would describe as a failure and incompetent? According to Mark Twain, \u201ca lie can travel halfway around the world while truth is just putting on its shoes\u2026 (and it will eventually catch up with the lie)\u201d
\nFor their information, those they referenced as critics of the amnesty programme have indeed commended Kuku\u2019s handling of the programme. The same Mujahid Dokubo-Asari recently denounced and dissociated himself from those calling for the sack of Kuku. This was widely reported in the media.
\nThis was his reason for supporting Kuku: \u201cI have said that what we have on ground is successful. Today, (Niger Delta youths) are being trained overseas in various skills and in the universities, and the Niger Delta is now much better for it. There is no doubt that the amnesty programme is very successful.\u201d
\nThis hollow \u201cSack Kuku\u201d campaign will remain what it is \u2013 full of sound and fury but with no substance. The so-called Publicity Secretary of the ghostly Ex-Militant Leaders Forum, Diepriye Dikibo\u2019s questions on whether those being trained in vocational institutions and the universities were part of the Niger Delta agitation are even more ludicrous. It only exposed him and those behind the campaign as self-serving individuals that want to stealthily take advantage of the programme\u2019s success to feather their nests. And they can only succeed by targeting Kuku!
\nIf Dikibo and his co-conspirators were indeed former militant leaders, they would know that a typical DDR training programme covers persons and communities negatively affected by a conflict. And the amnesty programme is not different.
\nIt was in recognition of this fact that President Goodluck Jonathan in August 2012, while approving the inclusion of an additional 3,642 persons in the Third Phase of the Amnesty Programme, also approved the inclusion of \u201c842 youths of severely impacted\/polluted communities in the Niger Delta (as part of community healing and reconciliation efforts, which will deepen the gains of the Amnesty Programme).\u201d Every former leader in the programme has this information and knows this for a fact.
\nIt is therefore pertinent this Diepriye Dikibo and his ilk answer some questions, if indeed they were militants (or former agitators, in the current parlance):\u00a0 Where was his camp? When did he disarm? What is his UN code? Name just one government official\/military officer that demobilized him in the camp at Obubra? Which bank is his monthly stipend paid into, even if he cannot disclose the details?
\nThe Amnesty Office will no longer respond to this band of detractors unless Dikibo is able to provide answers to these questions. The task of reintegrating genuine former agitators is arduous and Hon. Kuku will rather focus on this crucial national assignment.
\n*Alabrah is Head, Media and Communications, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Abuja, Nigeria
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