Guild of Editors Urges Support For Post Amnesty Programme …Ex-Militants Begin Camping, July

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has urged stakeholders in the Niger Delta to support the Federal Government’s post-amnesty programme to maintain stability in the region.

Such support, the guild said, was necessary to frustrate any resurgence of militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

The call was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the Guild’s sixth All Nigerian conference in Port Harcourt.

Signed by the President and Secretary of the Guild, Messrs Gbenga Adefaye and John Ndukauba, the editors pledged to treat all persons pursuing legitimate demands for justice and equity in the region through legal means with understanding.

They commended President Goodluck Jonathan for signing the Local Content Bill into law and for setting up the Local Content Monitoring Board.

They urged the media to publicise the provisions of the law and the activities of the board, adding that the law provided opportunities for empowerment of Nigerians in the oil and gas sector.

They stressed the need for transparency, accountability and probity in the allocation and use of oil and gas resources.

This, they believed, would engender growth and development and eliminate restiveness in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

The conference noted the contributions of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in ensuring transparency in extractive industries and urged the government to give the agency more powers to sanction defaulters.

It criticised the over-dependence on oil and advised the government to develop other sources of revenue such as solid minerals and agriculture.

It requested the government to take measures to ensure that international oil companies operated within acceptable standards and acquired appropriate technology in enforcing payment of appropriate taxes and royalties.

On the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill before the National Assembly, the editors re-echoed their earlier demand for the passage of the bill to allow people to hold the government accountable.

They called on relevant authorities to take concrete steps to alleviate poverty in the society, noting that “poverty is pervasive across the country”.

Meanwhile, following the revival of the post-amnesty programme, ex-militants, are set to go for rehabilitation next month.

The hint was dropped by Mr Ndutimi Alaibe, Special Adviser to the President on Niger-Delta Affairs, shortly after speaking at the 6th All Nigerian Editors Conference over the weekend.

Mr Alaibe, who had earlier spoken on the theme: “Militancy, Avoiding a Resurgence,” said President Goodluck Jonathan had directed that the scheme be given priority attention following delays in the past months.

He stated that by July, the ex-militants would be taken to a rehabilitation camp, where they would be engaged in non-violence training.

Mr Alaibe, who described the process as ‘transformative’, said the essence of the scheme was to get the ex-militants employable and re-integrated into the society.

Though he did not give full details of how the programme would run, he said they had commenced proper classification and documentation of those to participate in the scheme.

The former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), ruled out the possibility of non-ex-militants participating in the scheme.

“We went to the camp and we talked to them so they know themselves, and we also know those who are militants and those who are not,” he said.

He disclosed that already the ex-militants had started showing enthusiasm to be engaged in the programme. He added that those who are not ex-militants would be trained as well.

His words: “For those who are not militants, they would be involved in a different programme that would be run by other service providers,  oil companies and private sector.”

Alaibe had earlier in his paper recommended the need for more equitable sharing of oil proceeds, in order to avert the recurrence of violence in the future.

For him, the present measures were not sufficient enough to prevent the youths from resorting to violent agitation in the future.

Particularly, “if the economic oppression persists, then militancy would not be eradicated,” he said.