The Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd), has said that 12 out of 59 ex-militants, who graduated from the Benson Idahosa University, bagged First Class Honours.
Boroh, also Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, said this in an interview with newsmen.
“Four out of the 59 beneficiaries, came out as best graduating students in their various departments.
“I just have to state their names here, Mr Bolei Gideon, First Class Honours Department of Agronomy and Environmental Management, Mr Azebi Marcodinho, First Class Honours, Geopphysics.
“Ms Febaide  Ebiere, First Class Honours, Banking and Finance, and Ms Guwor  Williams, First Class Honours, Sociology and Anthropology. They have all made the people of the region and the Nation proud,” he said.
According to him, the graduation of the 59 delegates of the Amnesty Programme fitted perfectly into the Amnesty Exit Strategic Plan.
He said that 20 out of the graduates made Second Upper Division in their various departments, while 22 of them graduated with Second Lower Division.
Boroh said the amnesty programme would continue to contribute to human capital development in the Niger Delta region and the nation at large.
He described the development as heart-warming, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to sustain the programme showed his sincere commitment to ensure peace, stability and rapid socio-economic development in the region.
Boroh commended the beneficiaries for their exemplary performance in their academic pursuits.
According to the coordinator, people who are educated are better informed and can differentiate from what is right and what is wrong.
“Educated people are united by the sense of right and wrong”. And since they are aware of the situation in their environment, they can be relied upon.
He said that the education of the youth would enable them have the sense of fulfilment in life and achieve their dreams.
He, however, urged authorities of institutions where amnesty beneficiaries have broken academic records through their high performance to find ways of absorbing such high flying beneficiaries.
He said that the amnesty educational empowerment programme has given hope to the youth in the region, and urged them not to allow anyone to short-change and mortgage their lives.
It would be recalled that 45 of its beneficiaries graduated from two universities in Belarus with three of them clinching first class honours in Information Technology from the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics.