186 Niger Delta youths depart for training in UK, South Africa

The Presidential Amnesty Office on Saturday night sent 186 Niger Delta ex-militants to the United Kingdom and South Africa for skill acquisition.
Kingsley Kuku, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Matters, held a pre-departure briefing with the delegates at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State and described the batch as lucky.
Kuku said that the batch was the largest to be deployed for educational training in the UK.
Kuku advised them to be good ambassadors of the nation in their host country by abiding with the laws and concentrating on their studies.
He said that the Presidential Amnesty Programme for youths in the Niger Delta now had zero tolerance for misconduct.
Kuku said that on completion of their training, their skills would be relevant and needed in the oil and gas industry, as well as the new refineries that would be coming on stream soon.
He noted that 690 delegates had in the past been repatriated and reprimanded for various infractions they committed during similar programmes overseas.
He added: “Also, 2,000 delegates have been empowered by the office, following their success in their various training, and provided with business start-up packages.
“Also, 174 others have been offered direct employment in various public and private onshore and offshore organisations,”
He said that 1,190 women had also been placed at specialised skill acquisition centres.
Kuku said that some of them who trained in aviation were being offered jobs as instructors in some training centres abroad.
He, however, said that the programme would come to an end by 2015 as scheduled.
Kuku said: “From inception, the programme was designed to run for five years, which we believe should not be altered.
“The Amnesty office would train 4,000 in 2013, 6,000 in 2014 and another 6,000 in 2015.”
He advised state governments in the Niger Delta region to commence youth engagement and empowerment programmes for their citizens.
“By 2016, all states in the Niger Delta must take up the responsibility of designing programmes that would empower youths and women in their states,” Kuku said.
Out of the current 186 delegates, 60 will undergo a 12-month vocational training in South Africa as emergency medical technicians, otherwise known as offshore medic.
The remaining 126 delegates will undergo educational training in tertiary institutions in Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
The latest batch of delegates brings to 16,683 the number of ex-militants sent for training in educational and vocational institutions abroad since the programme started in 2010.