Niger Delta monarch praises Presidential Amnesty Programme for creating 500 graduates in Gbaramatu Kingdom

NIGER Delta traditional ruler the Pere of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State His Royal Majesty Oboro Gbaraun has commended to the interim administrator of Presidential Amnesty Programme for creating up to 500 jobs lately.

On August 21, 2020, Retired Col Milland Dikio was appointed as the interim administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (Pap) by President Muhammadu Buhari. In October 2021, the tenure of Col Dikio, who hails from Mbiama in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, was renewed for another year.

According to HRM Oboro Gbaraun, the monarch of Gbaramatu Kingdom, the ancestral home of ex-militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, Col Dikio has delivered his mandate diligently. He said his kingdom could attest to some of the successes recorded by Pap, noting that over 500 beneficiaries of the programme are now graduates plying their skills in various sectors of the economy.

Speaking when he received Col Dikio in his palace, the monarch said some of the graduates bagged first class in their various disciplines and the scheme had boosted the manpower capacity of his kingdom. He commended Col Dikio for his various initiatives noting that the people of Gbaramatu were optimistic that with him in the saddle, they would produce more graduates, who would compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world.

“We are proud of the amnesty programme because of what it has done for us as a people and we have benefitted immensely from the scholarship scheme. In the 80’s and 90’s, the number of graduates we had was nothing to write home about but today we have more than 500 graduates.

“We also commend you for what you are doing. In the past, some people were using the scholarship scheme to benefit themselves but that has changed under you and we thank you,” the monarch said.

Col Dikio said he was making a second visit to Gbaramatu Kingdom to see for himself the state of the Nigerian Maritime University and also reiterated his message of economic restoration to the people. He assured the monarch that Pap would work with other institutions of government to make the maritime university one of the best in Africa.