Amnesty boss urges Diasporans to invest in maritime, oil & gas

Adebayo Obajemu

Col.Milland Dikio, (rtd), the Interim administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, has called on the people of Niger Delta in the diaspora to invest their money in the region.

Dikio particularly harped on the various opportunities in the region especially in maritime, agriculture and oil and gas saying the sectors were begging for investments.

Dikiohe in a release by his media aide, Neotabase Egbe, especially singled out the palm oil sub sector as another opportunity with huge economical potential begging for attention.

He condemned the undue reliance on crude oil, explaining that palm oil had broader market, greater economic value and better returns if serious investments could be made to harness it.

Dikio allayed the security fears of those in the diaspora saying the interventions of the Amnesty Office had calmed down frayed nerves and restored peace in the region.

The boss told the potential investors in the diaspora that the ex-agitators no longer blocked roads because of his efforts to make PAP focus on beneficiaries and his introduction of a new conflict resolution system.

He also said the tension in the region reduced drastically following his deliberate policy of continually engaging all stakeholders to tackle problems.

“The broader amnesty package is critical for all to understand. This is because people equate the whole basket of incentives that the Federal Government rolled out at the time of the amnesty declaration to the amnesty programme.

“Amnesty programme is always mistaken for the Niger Delta Recovery Plan with many placing unrealistic expectations on the programme.

“It is a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration programme, in essence a holding fort to create an enabling environment for peace to reign in the Niger Delta.

“It is pertinent to know that the Ministry of Niger Delta and the NDDC are saddled with infrastructural development in the Niger Delta. It is their core mandate.”

The Amnesty boss also disclosed that he had redesigned the training programmes of ex-agitators with the introduction of the novel Train, Employ and Mentor initiative, TEM.