FG to train ex-agitators in leadership skills

Dokubo urges them to shun violence
The Federal Government has disclosed plans to enrol leaders of Niger Delta ex-agitators in leadership training within the country or offshore for effective coordination of their followers.

Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Prof. Charles Dokubo, said this during a meeting with the ex-agitators in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

His Special Assistant on Media, Murphy Ganagana, disclosed that the coordinator had a meeting with 170 leaders of the ex-agitators enlisted in Phase 3 of the PAP and urged them to set aside violence and work in harmony to deepen peace in the Niger Delta and enhance development.

“I have thought about leadership training and there was a time they sent people to South Africa. I told the Phase 2 leaders I met here (Uyo) that we would design a programme for leadership training. If you don’t have training, how can you lead your people? It is not about stipends; it is how you can acquire knowledge,’’ Dokubo said.

He expressed dissatisfaction over the confrontational approach used by ex-agitators in seeking attention to issues bothering them, rather than consult the right officials and channel their grievances.

National secretary of the forum, Mr. Tam Odogwu, who spoke on behalf of the participants, expressed optimism that the interactive session with critical stakeholders in Niger Delta initiated by Dokubo would deepen peace in the region.