About 10,000 youths from oil-bearing communities in Niger Delta will be engaged by the Federal Government as surveillance and security officers at oil pipelines in the region.
Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman, Presidential Amnesty Programme Brig. Gen. Paul Boroh announced this at a news conference in Abuja, yesterday.
He said: “The Presidential Amnesty Programme is responsible for interacting with nine state governments, including Ondo State, and we aware of what is happening there. They (kidnappers) are also part of those that will benefit from the Federal Government inclusive principle in ensuring that youths of the region are adequately accommodated in the areas of inclusiveness.
“Inclusiveness means what do we do in ensuring that youths from the oil-bearing communities are engaged adequately in the oil business. It could be pipeline surveillance, it could be part of the modular refinery initiative. These things will engage youths. Most youths have taken it beyond the normal approach because they are not adequately employed.
“This, the Federal Government is aware of, and is responsible for ensuring that they achieve in the principle of inclusiveness in the strategic Niger Delta programme. The Strategic Work Plan for the Niger Delta region is an inclusive work plan that will involve youths, particularly those from oil-bearing communities.
“I have got names of persons from almost all the states; we will collate them and when I meet with our ministerial group, we will look at it holistically to see how we can get them but nothing less than 10,000 youths are going to be engaged from oil producing states because it has to do with surveillance of pipelines. All of them are going to be included.”
Dismissing fears of a possible hijack of the planned engagement of 10,000 youths by some forces, Gen. Boroh explained that the exercise would involve the leadership of the communities, who forwarded names to his office.
Speaking on the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State, Gen. Boroh denied insinuations the Federal Government had dropped the idea of establishing the institution.
Gen. Boroh presented three delegates of the Amnesty Programme, who made First Class in Belarus.
He gave the names of the delegates as Dan Obi Vincent from Rivers, Okorie Chukwuemeka from Imo State and Vincent Isoboye from Rivers State.
