Bayelsa governor praises Federal Government on amnesty programme

The amnesty programme of the Federal Government is a mark of good leadership and foresight, the governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, said Tuesday.

He made the commendation at the Arewa House, in Kaduna, the Kaduna State capital, when he addressed a post-amnesty summit organised by the Centre for Alternative Policy Perspectives and Strategy (CAPPS), with support from the Bayelsa State government.

Mr. Sylva said President Umaru Yar’Adua displayed “extraordinary vision in providing the Niger Delta and the whole of Nigeria with the gift of compassion, tolerance, dialogue, and peaceful co-existence”. He urged the audience at the summit to support the president in his determination to bring realistic change to the country.

“I cannot help but call for continuity; continuity of vision, continuity of purpose. All I call for now is continuity and sustenance of this policy thrust. It is the best way to guarantee the success of the Post-Amnesty goals,” he said.

Militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta say they are fighting for a fair share of the resource produced in their land. According to the governor, the conflict in the Niger Delta over the ownership, control, and distribution of the region’s oil resources is not an abnormality. Mr. Sylva said he believes that “conflict over resources is a normal feature of pluralist societies, such as Nigeria. It is the management of such perennial conflicts that matters, that is, the ability of people to balance multiple interests and expectations, and to negotiate around the real, potential and even illusionary distances that divide one unity from another.”

A statement from the United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria, sent to media houses on Tuesday, also acknowledged the efforts aimed at bringing peace to the Niger Delta.

“We note the efforts to date to advance dialogue in the Niger Delta. We hope that these efforts will continue, and that restraint is exercised during this delicate period, including resolving any outstanding amnesty issues, in order to fully realise peace and develop a comprehensive framework that will address the legitimate concerns of the people of the region,” the statement said.

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Uffott Ekaette, who represented Mr. Yar’Adua at the summit, said he has met with all the Niger Delta governors with a view to putting in place a workable programme of rehabilitation and reintegration of the ex-militants. He emphasised that the Niger Delta occupies a strategic place in the quest to make Nigeria one of the top 20 economies by 2020.

Chairman of the occasion, Mamman Nasir, described the summit as “most auspicious”. He referred to the amnesty offer as a call for all Nigerians to “come back to their senses”. Mr. Nasir lauded Mr, Sylva for facilitating the post amnesty confidence-building summit.

Present at the summit were Oladimeji Bankole, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Namadi Sambo, the Kaduna State governor; Ibrahim Shema, the governor of Katsina State; and former president, Shehu Shagari. Also in attendance were the former Senate President, Joseph Wayas and the former military governor of old Bendel State, Samuel Ogbemudia. The Ijaw leader, Edwin Clark, several emirs and other traditional rulers from across the country were also present.

Imo want amnesty

Meanwhile, the Imo State government has requested that the state be included in the post-amnesty programme of the Federal Government, because it was the first state to suffer from militancy. Ikedi Ohakim, governor of the state, made this request when he visited Mr. Yar’Adua at the presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.

Fielding questions from the reporters during the visit, Mr. Ohakim said the kidnapping of expatriate workers began in Imo State in 2002 as a result of environmental pollution.

“First of all, maybe most of you are not aware that the first expatriate kidnapping of oil workers took place in Imo State several years back. It started in Imo because of the pollution in 2002.

Imo state immediately put up a special system, which includes the deposing of traditional rulers where any militant emerged from and we did everything propounded to nip it in the bud and that formula worked,” he said.

The governor argued that since he used state resources to fight militancy, his state should be rewarded.