The Ijaw Youth Network (IYN) has commended President Bola Tinubu and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, for the unprecedented scholarships of the Presidential Amnesty Programme under Dr Dennis Brutu Otuaro.

The IYN, which urged the PAP boss to ignore detractors, advised him to sustain the tempo of the positive impact of the programme on the Niger Delta under his leadership.

The group, in a statement signed by its President, Frank Ebikabo, and Secretary, Federal Ebiaridor, yesterday, said that Otuaro’s expansion of the programme’s scholarship and vocational schemes had increased educational and training opportunities for delegates and beneficiaries from the region’s communities.

The group lauded Otuaro for awarding scholarships to over 9,000 Niger Deltans to study in Nigerian universities, and 273 overseas, since assuming office in March 2024, describing the large-scale deployments as unprecedented.

Ebikabo and Ebiaridor said the IYN is delighted to note that the programme has recorded over 50 first-class and 40 second-class upper divisions in the past two academic years.

They also hailed Otuaro for the successful completion of training by four pilot cadets and two instrument rating trainees in South Africa, 40 aviation cadets in Lagos, and 98 maritime cadets in Delta State.

The group stressed that the training of 360 delegates of the First, Second and Third Phases of the programme, and other stakeholders, on alternative dispute resolution and mediation had strengthened the PAP’s peace-building process in the region.

Ebikabo and Ebiaridor said that Otuaro has gone too far in realising the President’s vision for the Niger Delta to be distracted.

They said: “These remarkable achievements highlight Dr Dennis Otuaro’s sincere commitment and passion for human capital development, socio-economic advancement, and peace and stability in the communities of the Niger Delta.