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PANDEF Lauds Dikio’s New Vision For Ex-Agitators
The Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) says it has thrown its weight behind all the reforms in the administration of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), especially the new vision and initiatives introduced by PAP’s Interim Administrator, Col Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd) to transform ex-agitators into entrepreneurs.
The group observed that the beneficiaries of the programme and other critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta region had continued to speak well of his performance and visionary leadership.
A statement signed, last Wednesday, by Dikio’s Special Adviser on Media, Neotaobase Egbe, said PANDEF spoke when its executive members led by its National Chairman and former Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Emmanuel Essien, paid a courtesy visit to the amnesty boss in Abuja, recently.
Essien, who read the position of PANDEF, particularly commended Dikio’s new vision of transforming ex-agitators and beneficiaries of the programme into entrepreneurs and employable citizens to make them contributors to the economy of the region and the nation.
He said to actualize the vision, Dikio introduced a new model of train, employ and mentor, and the concept of constituting ex-agitators into cooperatives in the areas of maritime security, food security and maritime transport.
Essien said the new approach would help the ex-agitators break away from the fetters of dependency and crime, adding that PANDEF was happy that the administrator recently engaged some beneficiaries into the workforce of PAP.
Describing the development as exemplary, Essien said it would help to allay the fears over the employability and demeanour of ex-agitators and encourage other agencies and departments of government as well as the private sector to employ the beneficiaries.
He said PANDEF also applauded Dikio’s idea to set up the Strategic Communication Committee (SCC) to address issues of misinformation about the programme and the region.
He appealed to the amnesty boss to consider setting up a proper monitoring and evaluation structure to validate the progress of the beneficiaries, projects and programmes of PAP.
“Your assignment is of great importance to the Niger Delta. Whatever happens here has a huge ripple effect on the region, and would help to either sustain or hamper the relative peace in the region.
“Fortunately, as we stated in our letter to you, we are pleased with the report of a paradigm shift in the administration and operations of the Presidential Amnesty Programme since you took over.
“Your strategy of regular engagement with the ex-agitators and beneficiaries of the programme is commendable. We are aware that the PAP administrators before you never had such robust engagement with the boys. And perhaps, more appreciable for obvious reasons, is the regular and timely payment of the monthly stipends.
“We request of you, please, do not allow anyone to dent your enviable records and pedigree. You are doing a good job but expectedly not everyone would be happy that you are changing the status quo. Therefore, please be conscious of the fact that your last two predecessors were removed in manners demeaning of the region’s psyche”, he stated.
While calling on Dikio to address the delay in payments of local schools and institutions participating in the training of beneficiaries, and urged all stakeholders in the Niger Delta to support the good work of the amnesty boss.
He averred that PANDEF had in the last four years continued to stimulate efforts to sustain the relative peace in the region through various interventions and engagements with stakeholders.
In his response, PAP’s Interim Administrator, Col Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd harped on the need for partnership, saying that more positive results would be achieved if all stakeholders worked as a team.
He said the conversation on the Niger Delta Recovery Plan must be broadened and that other aspects of the training must be explored, especially in the oil and gas sector, food and agriculture, maritime security and marine transport.
He also stressed that delegates needed to be strategically empowered with authentic certifications to enable them compete with their counterparts in other parts of the country.
By: Akujobi Amadi
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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