Niger Delta Amnesty: I will work with my successor –Kuku
By Oriaifoh Godwins
Senior Special Assistant, SSA, on Niger Delta Affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan and the Ex Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty
programme, Honourable Kingsley Kuku in a chat with the press in Abuja recently, said he will render his assistance to whoever is appointed to succeed him in piloting the affairs of the Niger Delta Amnesty programme.
Honourable Kuku, who said his tenure ended with the tenure of the former President, recalled how daunting the task of managing the amnesty programme was, due to the novelty of the programme as well as the precarious and sensitive nature of managing the affairs of the ex agitators; he also advised that, the person who succeeds him, must not only understand the psyche of those he is to manage, but, must also be resilient, painstaking and empathetic.
He said, ‘I will support my successor, but if he refuses to give me the opportunity to so do, I will do it through other people. This programme is about me, it is about my environment and about my country. I hope to support my successor in deepening the peace and security in the Niger Delta. I will never support violence in the Niger Delta…’
He maintained that Nigeria must continue to uphold and maintain the peace that is currently prevalent in the Niger Delta saying, the provision of needed critical infrastructures will go a long way in guaranteeing lasting peace in the Niger Delta.
He said, ‘when you skill a man, and allow him to go back to the creeks, he can be more dangerous than when he is not skilled…’
Kuku also urged the state governments in the Niger Delta region to do more than pay lip service to the programme as they are playing politics with the programme.
He recommended an additional two years for the termination of the programme, as against the December 2015 date earlier targeted, so as to cater for the additional 10, 000 new intake ex agitators.
On the issue of granting amnesty to Boko Haran insurgents, Hon, Kuku who has always been in support of granting amnesty to Boko Haram insurgents, said those that are sympathetic to the cause of the insurgents, as well as the members of Boko Haram that are currently being held by security agents can be used to find a lasting solution to the Boko Haram problem if these sets of people are properly managed and their psyche worked on.
Kuku also used the opportunity to call on the federal government to fulfill the promises they made to the people of the Niger Delta with respect to the provision of infrastructure, which was one of the reasons for the agitation.
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