BoI partners Amnesty on capacity building for ex Niger Delta agitators

The Bank of Industry (BoI) and the Office of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for the Niger Delta, have agreed to provide capacity and funding support for the former agitators in the Niger Delta region.

This is coming ahead of preparations towards the plan of the federal government to wind down the amnesty programme by 2018.

Speaking during the meeting which took place at the head office of BoI in Abuja, the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for the Niger Delta, Brig-Gen. Paul Boro (rtd), said the programme office would need the support of the development finance institution in the areas of capacity building to enable the ex-militants channel their energies into productive ventures.

Boro, who is also the Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta, noted that apart from the provision of adequate funding support, the ex-militants require training in the various Small and Medium Enterprises value chain.

According to him, the programme has no exit plan on his assumption of office, noting that he needed to draw up a two-year exit plan for the ex-agitators to enable them acquire relevant skills that would enable them contribute their own quota to the economic development of the country.

He explained that 5,000 ex-militants would exit the programme in each quarter for the next two years after receiving requisite capacity building and skills acquisition trainings.