Niger Delta Youths Must Think Beyond Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP)

 


📰 Niger Delta Youths Must Think Beyond Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP)

ND-PYLF President Chief Diplomat Amb. Adam Marbo Sets the Record Straight

The Niger Delta Progressive Youths Leadership Foundation (ND-PYLF) has issued a clarion call to youths of the region, urging them to rise above the culture of dependence on the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP). According to the group, while the programme has played a stabilizing role in the Niger Delta, it was never intended to serve as a permanent lifeline for the entire population of the region.

In a strongly worded statement released on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, the National President of ND-PYLF, Chief Diplomat Amb. Adam E.O.O. Marbo, stressed that the destiny of Niger Delta youths cannot be perpetually tied to PAP.

🎯 The Original Intent of PAP

Amb. Marbo reminded the public that the PAP initiative was introduced in 2009 under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to reintegrate 30,000 ex-combatants who willingly surrendered their arms during the Niger Delta militancy era.

The programme, he explained, was structured in three phases:

  • First Phase: 20,192 ex-agitators

  • Second Phase: 6,166 ex-agitators

  • Third Phase: 3,642 ex-agitators

These categories, he emphasized, were strictly captured in the Federal Government’s verified database. PAP was never meant for the general Niger Delta populace, nor was it designed as an open-ended empowerment scheme.

🔍 On the Novena University Controversy

Chief Marbo also addressed the raging controversy surrounding the alleged 5,000 students linked to Novena University, Ogume, Delta State, and other institutions.

He recalled that under the tenure of the late Prof. Charles Quaker Dokubo as Coordinator of PAP, an investigative committee uncovered large-scale fraud in the deployment of supposed beneficiaries.

“The findings revealed that majority of the candidates parading themselves as PAP beneficiaries were never captured in the official PAP database,” Amb. Marbo revealed.

He accused racketeers of infiltrating the system, thereby misleading many unsuspecting Niger Delta youths. Importantly, he clarified that the issue predates the current PAP Administrator, High Chief Dr. Dennis Burutu Otuaro, making it unfair to attribute the mess to his leadership.

⚖️ Clarifying the Itsekiri Slot

The ND-PYLF President further shed light on the Itsekiri nationality’s inclusion in PAP. He stated that the Itsekiri did not submit arms during the disarmament process but were accommodated into the programme through 500 slots allocated to the Itsekiri National Youth Council (INYC) under the leadership of Hon. Kingsley Kuku.

“This fact is important to set the record straight. The programme was never a free-for-all but a structured process designed to address a specific problem,” he stated firmly.

✅ The Way Forward

To curb fraudulent deployments in the future, Amb. Marbo proposed that:

  1. All original PAP scholarship beneficiaries must be issued sponsorship letters.

  2. Beneficiaries should also be given valid PAP identification cards.

According to him, these measures will sanitize the system, protect genuine beneficiaries, and shield them from exploitation by racketeers.

🌍 Beyond PAP: A Call for Unity and Development

While acknowledging the stabilizing impact of PAP on the Niger Delta, Marbo warned that the region must not tie its future to the programme.

“We must rise above dependency on PAP and embrace unity, peace, love, and ethnic integration as the true building blocks for the Niger Delta’s sustainable future,” he declared.

He concluded with a powerful message of hope:

“Unity is our strength. Let love keep us together. We rise for a purpose.”

Through this call, the ND-PYLF President reaffirmed his commitment to justice, fairness, and the collective advancement of the Niger Delta.

✍️ By: Prince O. D. Agbedeyi PhD
For: Global Egberi Media International

🌐 Website: https://globalegberi.blogspot.com
📧 Email: globalegberimedia@gmail.com
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🔖 Tags:

#NigerDelta #PAP #ND-PYLF #AdamMarbo #NigerDeltaYouth #NigerDeltaDevelopment #DennisOtuaro #IjawNation

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