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Why Presidential Amnesty Programme’s Budget Should Be Reviewed Upward – IYC

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Dr. Dennis Otuaro (L), Administrator, PAP presenting a plaque to Jonathan Lokpobiri, President, IYC during the visit at the PAP Office in Abuja on Monday, October 21, 2024.

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has called on the Federal Government to approve more funds for the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) to enable it perform optimally for sustainable peace of the Niger Delta.

The IYC President, Jonathan Lokpobiri, made the call while speaking with journalists shortly after he led a delegation of the council on a courtesy visit to the Administrator of PAP, Dr Dennis Otuaro in Abuja.

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A statement signed by the spokesperson for the IYC, Princewill Binebai and made available to newsmen on Wednesday, quoted Lokpobiri as stating that the scope of the PAP was expanding and should no longer be run with its current budget which had remained the same for many years.

The umbrella body of ijaw youths noted that the programme still had a lot to do to ensure continued stabilisation of the region.

READ ALSO: Ijaw Youths Network Warns Detractors To Leave PAP Boss Alone

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The group also argued that the present economic realities in Nigeria and emerging challenges in the region have made it even more compelling for more funds to be appropriated for the programme.

The council, while stating that it discovered after a careful assessment of the programme that the Dollar was exchanging for N120 when the PAP started, added that there were sufficient justifiable reasons for the government to consider strengthening the programme with additional funds.

The Ijaw youths appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the Ministers of Budget and Finance as well as the leadership of the National Assembly to see the need to make more funds available for the programme.

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The statement read in part, “As Ijaw Youth Council, we have done a careful assessment of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) and the massive achievements that the programme has recorded over the years.

READ ALSO: PAP: Remain Focused; Don’t Be Distracted By Nay Sayers, Sen. Manager Tells Otuaro

“However, our assessment showed that the Programme can no longer run effectively with its current budget because when it was conceived, the dollar was exchanging for N120.

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“Today, this same Programme is still being run with the same budgetary provision of N65bn for a whole year. Currently, the dollar is exchanging for N1,700 and the funding of the programme has remained stagnant while the needs of the Programme are expanding.

“We, as council, want to passionately appeal to President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Budget, the National Assembly, the Senate President and the leadership of the National Assembly to work together to improve the funding of the programme.

“There is so much that is expected from this programme because if the Niger Delta fails, Nigeria will pay more. The PAP is at the driver’s seat of sustaining the peace in the Niger Delta. So the need to expand this Programme to accommodate more people is very important at this point in time.”

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Lokpobiri commended Otuaro for repositioning the PAP and “bringing the programme back to our people in the Niger Delta”.

READ ALSO: PAP: N’Delta Groups Knock Boyloaf Secretary, Gbaboyor, Over Attack On Otuaro, Tompolo

While stressing that the administrator’s leadership role and his policy of inclusion had engendered stability in the region, Lokpobiri assured the PAP boss of the support of IYC and also thanked him for identifying with the youth body.

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Responding in the statement, Otuaro reiterated his commitment to serving the people of the Niger Delta wholeheartedly as he knew the task ahead of him upon his appointment.

The PAP boss reassured the Ijaw youths that the programme was in safe hands.

He said the PAP was at the reintegration phase which he described as critical in the implementation of the programme’s objectives, adding that his leadership understood the vital roles of stakeholders towards the sustainable peace, security and stability of the region.

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While thanking the IYC for the visit, Otuaro said, “When I came into office, I knew the task ahead. I also know the roles of the Ijaw National Congress, IYC, our women and other organisations. That is why I usually say that this programme is in safe hands. This job is about our people. The office, under my leadership, also takes stakeholders engagement seriously.”

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Bumper Harvest: Foundation Distributes 6,000 Fertilizers To Farmers In Bauchi

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A group, Wunti Al-Khair Foundation has donated 6,000 50kg bags of fertilizer to farmers in Bauchi state in order to have a bumper harvest.

Speaking during the flag off ceremony of the distribution of the fertilizers on Thursday, Mr Abubakar Mohammed, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Wunti Al-Khair Foundation, said the distribution was only for the indigent farmers in the state.

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He said the fertilizers would be distributed to farmers in underserved communities across the three Senatorial Districts of the state.

“We are gathered here to flag off the free distribution of fertilizers to farmers, especially the indigent farmers that don’t have the means to buy fertilizer for their farms.

READ ALSO: Fedpoly Bauchi Shut Down Over Violent Students Protest

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“That is the reason why the founder of this foundation bought the fertilizers and distributed them to the low income farmers in the state.

“We have gone round the nooks and crannies of the state to identify the underserved communities and those that deserve this particular gesture.

“We planned to distribute about 6,000 bags of fertilizer and due to the populous nature of the Bauchi LGA, they have the largest share but some other local governments too have hundreds of beneficiaries which we divided into Senatorial zones,” he said.

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According to him, today was the flagging off of the Bauchi South Senatorial District, adding that the extension of the gesture would commence in Bauchi North and Bauchi Central Senatorial Districts tomorrow.

READ ALSO: UNICEF Advocates Six Months Maternity Leave From Working Mothers In Bauchi

Mohammed explained that the only criteria used in selecting the beneficiaries were underserved communities and low income farmers, adding that “we know that a large number of the farmers in Bauchi state are low income farmers.

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“Those are the people that we identified, verified and they are our beneficiaries and we have warned the general public about the activities of some unscrupulous elements that go round to impersonate our foundation.

“Wunti Al-Khair Foundation is not charging a kobo for every part of its activities, be it education, healthcare, economic empowerment and community development”.

Responding, one of the beneficiaries, Emmanuel Samson, described the support as a timely intervention that would greatly enhance his farming activities and appreciated the foundation for the intervention.

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Another beneficiary, Salisu Maidawa, who was short of words for the gesture, said the gesture came at a time when he was in dire need of it.

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IYC Urges Tinubu To Sack NCDMB Boss

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Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Western Zone, has urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately sack Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for allegedly not “keeping up to the fundamental mandate,” upon which the agency was established.

This was contained in a statement jointly signed by Comrade Nicholas Igarama, Comrade Ebi Joshua Olowolayemo, and Comrade Tare Magbei, Western Zone
Chairman, Secretary, and Information Officer respectively, and made available to newsmen in Warri on Thursday, August 14, 2015.

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According to the IYC, the call for Ogbe’s sack becomes necessary following his incompetence and ethnic bias, adding that Ogbe has turned the agency meant for the whole Niger Delta to his Itsekiri ethnic group alone.

The IYC, while noting that efforts to meet the NCDMB Executive Secretary to discuss critical issues as they affect the region and its people have proved abortive, said it can no longer fold it arms and watch while things go from bad to worse.

READ ALSO: FG Warns Of Flooding In Lagos, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, 26 Others

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As Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Ogbe has consistently failed to input his supposed industry track record in the advancement of the mandate upon which the agency was founded.

“He has continually had a sectional engagement with his fellow Itsekiri Kits and Kin, thereby shutting all other ethnic nationalites in the Niger Delta region out.

“Repeatedly, he avoided critical youth engagement in the region while sponsoring that of his Itsekiri ethnicity through different human capacity development initiatives, while other ethnic nationalites are left unattended.

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“As Ijaw, mostly from the western flank where Engr. Ogbe also hails from, we will not sit and watch others benefit from the resources that we produce without our practical involvement to better the lives of our people as well.

READ ALSO: Bayelsa Warns LG Officials Against Pension Payment Delays

“It is on record that the leadership of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Western Zone has tried to establish communication with Engr. Ogbe, for the last ten months, but every medium of communication to get his attention has fundamentally proven to be abortive.

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“As youths, we can no longer have leaders in office who have now equated themselves to demi-god and have refused to attend to most significantly youthful issues in the Niger Delta Region.

“To this end, we therefore call on President Bola Ahmed Tinibu to immediately sack Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, who has consistently displayed disregard for critical actors in the Niger Delta and has also exhibited the highest level of gross inefficiency by not keeping up to the fundamental mandate upon which NCDMB was founded,” the statement reads.

The IYC also called for the probe Ogbe as Executive Secretary after his sack.

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Efforts to reach Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, NCDMB, for reaction proved abortive.

 

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I’m Being Impersonated – Goodluck Jonathan Disowns Social Media Account

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Former President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday said he is being impersonated by fraudsters.

Jonathan alleged that a fraudulent Instagram handle has been impersonating him.

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In a statement by his Media Aide,
Ikechukwu Eze, the former President insisted that he does not operate any Instagram handle.

READ ALSO:Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan Appointed Africa’s Ambassador For Agricultural Technology

The statement is titled ‘Beware of fake Instagram account impersonating H.E. Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’.

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“Our attention has been drawn to a fraudulent Instagram account operating under the handle goodluck_ebelejonathan, which is falsely impersonating former President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

“This impostor account has been deceitfully posting content, some copied from Dr. Jonathan’s Facebook page, while pretending to represent the former President.

READ ALSO:How Former Konga CEO, Nick Imudia, Committed Suicide

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“We wish to emphasise that Dr. Jonathan does not operate any Instagram account.

“The media and members of the public are strongly advised to disregard, avoid sharing, or promoting any content originating from this fake profile,” the statement read.

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