Dr. Otuaro holds a PhD in Comparative Politics & Development Studies; an MSc in Public Administration, and a BSc in Education.

He had previously served as a top-level executive of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with a surfeit of experience across multiple sectors, including infrastructure development, security, environmental remediation, and oil and gas.

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He also said that sanitary measures carried out on the PAP database revealed that certain beneficiaries and ex-agitators had multiple accounts linked to their BVNs.

“Further verification of the payment list revealed that certain beneficiaries had multiple accounts linked to their BVNs. In total, 513 beneficiaries had 1370 accounts on the payment list linked to their BVNs. Other anomalies were that of certain accounts not linked to their BVNs; this group had a total of 2601 accounts.

“To rectify those irregularities, a portal was created by PAP (_stver.osapnd.gov.ng) for the affected beneficiaries to log in, and those with multiple accounts linked to their BVNs were to choose just one account in order to have their payments regularised. A total of 1,561 accounts have been cleared and paid in full to date and presently, multiple account fraud has been eradicated from the payment list”, he said.

According to him, a total of 847 delegates are currently undergoing training at the National Information Technology Development Agency in various ICT-specialised fields.

The delegates would be certified in digital marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, computer appreciation, search engine optimization, as well as technical and computer writing.

In a statement, the Special Assistant (Media) to the PAP CEO, Freston Akpor, said that from vocational training centres to opportunities in Federal Government agencies, and incentives for viable SMEs, the innovative ideas initiated by Ndiomu would guarantee the socio-economic sustainability of ex-agitators and young people in the Niger Delta.

He said enormous windows of employment opportunities have been provided for ex-agitators in the oil-rich Niger Delta region to thrive.

Akpor said, “Under General Ndiomu, a total of 847 delegates are undergoing training in the National Information Technology Development Agency in various ICT specialised fields with certification in digital marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, computer appreciation, search engine optimisation, as well as technical and computer writing.

“Similarly, the PAP is sponsoring 75 pilots and aircraft engineers to South Africa and France for type-rating as part of the programme’s aviation training scheme, which General Ndiomu is very passionate about. A breakdown of the figure indicates that 35 delegates are pilots, while 40 are billed for aircraft engineering.

“A major boost to that initiative was the launching of the PAP Cooperative Scheme with an initial sum of N1.5 billion as seed money in the account with an additional N100 million operational fund to be solely managed by the ex-agitators. The cooperative scheme has an eminent jurist, Justice Francis Tabai, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria as chair of the board with a team of experienced consultants to assist in nurturing the cooperative into fruition. This will create a conducive environment for small businesses to grow to become the catalyst for economic development in the Niger Delta.”

Speaking on the vocational training centres designed to provide skills for the teeming youths in the region when completed, he emphasised that the PAP has cleared monies owed to contractors to facilitate the completion of five vocational centres across the region.

“Relevant higher institutions of learning, training institutes and development partners have undertaken spot assessments to re-evaluate existing infrastructure, update software and service equipment, including those left at Boro Town after it was burgled, to bring the centres, including an additional one to be sited in Bayelsa, up to speed and eminent take-off. The management under General Ndiomu has also cleared all debts related to ongoing training schemes,” he maintained.

He added that under General Ndiomu’s watch, the PAP has provided employment for a critical number of young graduates from the Niger Delta in line with the vision of the PAP, thereby reducing the culture and cycle of dependency and indolence.

“The Presidential Amnesty Programme has gained a huge mileage from September last year through the initiatives introduced by General Ndiomu and his managerial acumen has impacted positively on the programme. Unfortunately, the lies and blackmail will not deter the Interim Administrator from doing what is right by the majority of ex-agitators and the people of the Niger Delta,” Akpor said.

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This is in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s determination to deliver gains of the Amnesty Programme through a transparent process that ensures all allocated resources are judiciously utilized, as the success of the programme lies on transformation of ex-agitators from militancy to actualizing their aspirations, engaging in businesses and living sustainable livelihood.

This is why the programme focuses on education, vocational training and empowerment, all designed to address issues of development in the Niger Delta. There is however growing concern that the reintegration component of the programme may have been frustrated by corruption and lack of accountability. This must stop for the benefit of beneficiaries and the Niger Delta.

While the PAP which was initiated on June 25, 2009 has contributed to stability in the Niger Delta, there have been persistent calls by stakeholders for a review of the programme to achieve its objective of sustaining peace, security and human capital development in the region.

More than 10 years after its creation amidst numerous petitions and allegations of corruption which are being investigated, available data point to a systemic problem with the programme structure which permits abuse of processes. The situation is in direct conflict with the Federal Government’s resolve to address the root causes of under-development in the Niger Delta conflict that necessitated the Amnesty Programme.

In order to protect all beneficiaries and ensure that no one is left behind, Government is reviewing the propramme to make it work better for human capital and socio-economic development, as well as empowerment of the region and its people.

As the PAP works to review the programme, stakeholders from the region will play a critical role, and the guiding principle is mainstreaming and institutionalization. There is a clear commitment to reform the programme in such a way that the benefits are channeled through a transparent, accountable, corrupt-free and institutionalized process.

The Amnesty Programme as structured does not deliver long term benefit to the targeted beneficiaries in the Niger Delta region and for a successful review of the programme, PAP will count on the support of all beneficiaries and stakeholders through the consultative processes already in place.

All students under the programme at home and abroad are assured that the review process will not affect their academic activities. Efforts are being made to ensure that genuine stipends are paid regularly and all genuine contractual claims settled.

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JRC spokesperson, Cynthia Whyte, said: “We believe this is a phoney attempt at window-dressing the core issues and a poor attempt at surface dressing the many problems facing the Presidential Amnesty Programme today. It is impossible to have that scale of fraud, embezzlement, mismanagement and general malfeasance at the Presidential Amnesty Programme without active and coordinated connivance with the Office of the National Security Adviser.”

The group argued that the fact that two coordinators of the Programme have been sacked for fraud within two years (March 2018 and March 2020), shows that something was fundamentally wrong with the current architecture and supervisory framework of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

“Whatever investigation must be carried out on the Presidential Amnesty Programme must be done directly by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and not through the Office of the National Security Adviser, who is also an Adviser to the President, just as the Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme doubles as Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, which is a Cabinet ranking position,” the group said.

Whyte said JRC would want the Presidential Amnesty Programme to be removed from the supervision of the Office of the National Security Adviser and domiciled directly under the Presidency.

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They noted that successive coordinators only focused on amnesty and payment of stipends to ex-agitators, and neglected development of the region, a critical component of the amnesty initiative.

Speaking at the opening of a four-day retreat of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Committee, constituted by Dokubo, the panel’s Technical Coordinator, Dr. Ferdinand Ikwang, said Dokubo had demonstrated commitment to improve PAP.

He said: “Every other coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) focused on amnesty and forgot developing the Niger Delta.

“This is the first time that a coordinator is focusing on development of the Niger Delta.”

Dokubo urged workers of the Amnesty Office to support the committee in charting a new course for the programme.

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Items distributed to the beneficiaries at a ceremony held in Okochiri, Okrika Local Government Area of the state, included deep freezers, electric sewing machines and generators, among others.

Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo while addressing the beneficiaries, said they were empowered with starter packs to enable the engage in productive ventures and be self reliant.

He noted that the Amnesty Programme was set up to train and empower youths in the Niger Delta who are enlisted towards building human capital development for the maintenance of peace and security in the region.

“This occasion is very significant for those of us in the Niger Delta. The Amnesty programme was set up to empower and to maintain security in the region. Today’s empowerment programme is to empower and enhance trained beneficiaries of the Programme, so that they can go back home and setup themselves and do jobs that will benefit them.

“Niger Delta people like I have always said are hardworking people and once they are given the roadmap, they will do whatever other people in Nigeria will do and even do it better. So today’s occasion is for me to give trained beneficiaries starter packs to start their lives, to open their shops and start their businesses immediately. Now that we have set them up, they will earn money, help their families and stabilize from war- torn to a stabilized living”.

Dokubo assured that the empowerment programme will be continuous to actualize the objectives for which the Amnesty Programme was establish. He urged youths in the Niger Delta not to indulge in activities that would hinder the development in the region.

The Amayanabo of Okochiri Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Ateke Micheal Tom, commended Dokubo for his commitment to the success of the Amnesty Programme and assured him of his support. “I have seen the difference in your leadership of the Amnesty Programme and I am going to work with you to achieve greater heights. I have heard how you have handled that office forthrightly, with commitment and transparency. I will support you fully and I pray that God will guide you to pilot the affairs of the Amnesty Programme successfully”, the monarch said.

While expressing appreciation to the Federal Government for empowering beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme in his kingdom, he recipients of the starter packs to make judicious use of the items.

A 51-year-old beneficiary, Mrs. Miebaka Oribi, described Prof. Dokubo as a true and passionate Niger Delta leader committed to the development of the region and its people. “I sincerely appreciate this gesture and want that assure the Federal Government and the Amnesty Programme that the starter packs given to me will be well used for the benefit of my family and the community”.

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The objective of the visit is to enable him evaluate the academic progress of the students, interact with them and address challenges in the course of their studies, in conjunction with officials of the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington DC.

It is in furtherance of his resolve to ensure that the welfare of beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme including those on scholarship in various institutions within the country and offshore is given priority attention. A total of 116 beneficiaries of the Programme are currently undergoing studies in various institutions outside the country.

Dokubo is on the trip in company with the Deputy Director of Procurement, Musa Odiniya, and Special Assistant (Technical), Dr.Monima Alabraba. He is expected to be back soon.

This is the second time he is visiting beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme on scholarship abroad. On July 19, 2018, he visited students sponsored by the Amnesty Programme in London and met with 47 students as well as recent graduates from 25 institutions in the UK at the Nigeria High Commission.

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He described the Amnesty Programme which has a mandate to train and re-integrate 30,000 enlisted beneficiaries, as having a bright future for Niger Delta youths.

Speaking on Friday at the grand finale of the first Amnesty Programme culinary skills competition and empowerment in Calabar, Cross Rivers State, Dokubo said the event was just one of the various steps taken by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to re-integrate beneficiaries of the Programme into society.

“This is the first of its kind since Amnesty started. The Amnesty Programme started with the training and re-integration of 30,000 beneficiaries, some from war torn and conflict society back to the mainstream in our development. What we are witnessing here today is just one of the various steps we’ve taken to re-integrate people into society. We are told that the Chinese have conquered the world with their culinary effect, but here we are telling the world that Amnesty has done more than that to capture the whole of Nigeria.

“The fact is that we have to train people, empower them and bring them back to society where they truly belong and it’s not been easy. I took over this office at the third phase which is the re-integration process, where you build destroyed societies, build new infrastructure, setup communities that have been dislocated by conflicts and impacted by the effect of other environmental disasters.

“I strongly believe that the step we’ve taken today is just the beginning; beginning in the sense that we will continue to project the work of Amnesty Programme to every nook and corners of this country to show that people could be brought back from wherever they are and also re-integrated into society”

He expressed optimism that the competition will also throw light into what Amnesty Programme can do. “Amnesty trains people, and we have graduated up to 16,000 beneficiaries. There are a lot of people in vocational training and even in universities abroad; we are doing that to empower our people back to society, to enhance development in the Niger Delta. The programme is for all those in the Niger Delta impacted and afflicted by conflict and have been accepted by the Federal Government into this Programme.

“As we stand today and watch this competition, these are young women and men who have gone through the various training. They will be given starter packs; they will be given financial assistance, we are going to rent a place for them to start their business so that they could exit the Programme and also take care of their future.

“The future is so bright; in fact, Amnesty Programme is the beginning of their future. I believe that as we go through this programme and empower these youths by giving them the required resources, they are going back to society to setup their eateries; people will visit them, they earn money and everything and then, they will never forget Amnesty Programme. Amnesty will be right input in the imprints in their mind and they will know there is a place it all started, which is Amnesty Prgramme”.

The grand finale of the competition which preceded a boot camp in which 22 beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme trained in culinary arts participated, recorded a star winner, Ms Ofoba Davies, among eight contestants. She clinched the first prize after beating three other finalists, Ibiwari Isaiah, Ibinabo Franks and Mary George Pepple.

Various sums in cash and cheque between N800, 000 and N200, 000 were presented to the winner and runners up as part of an empowerment package which included four packs of set of breakable flat and deep bowls; four packs of set of 24 cutlery, four industrial gas burner, oven and 12kg cylinder plus medium kerosene stoves and chest freezer.

Also in the starter packs for the beneficiaries are Sumec 3000 power generating set; 22 inch flat screen television, six sets of plastic tables and chairs, 1.5 hp air conditioner and industrial fan; sets of large, medium and small cookware, deep fryer, microwave and grill ovens, among other items.

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The placard-carrying youths led by president of the Ijaw Youth Association in Northern Nigeria, Comrade Akasah Eniyekeye Kelvin, said the solidarity march was to galvanize support for President Buhari’s re-election in the forthcoming election.

Towards this end, Akasah said the group has scheduled a Town Hall meeting for Tuesday, January 29 in Abuja to endorse President Buhari for a second term, adding that plans are also underway to hold a three-million-man march in the nation’s capital.

“We are here to tell the whole world that President Buhari and Prof. Charles Dokubo have done well. For the past nine months that Mr President appointed him, he has done enough. Since he came into office, all the moribund training centres, he has revamped them. As a matter of fact, he has done enough and he is still doing more. So, the whole world should disregard the sponsored petitions and protests against him.

We are saying they should give him enough space to work. Give him time so that everybody will benefit from him. We are queuing behind President Buhari and Prof. Dokubo because they’ve done well and will Niger Delta to the Next Level”.

Responding, Dokubo expressed appreciation to members of the group for publicly demonstrating support for him and President Buhari. He assured that the Amnesty Programme will be used under his watch to transform youths in the Niger Delta region.

“Our people have come to show Mr. President and I support which will go a long way. This office belongs to all of you and I was appointed to change the tune and narratives in the Niger Delta. This office belongs to everybody from the Niger Delta. You are supposed to benefit from it; to transform you. It is not only about paying N65, 000. It is for making you to realize that through this office, which has been supported by the President, who has given us the backing, you must work for him”.

While urging them to be united and organized, Dokubo emphasized on his determination to ensure that the Amnesty Programme is refocused to achieve its original mandate and transform its beneficiaries to become change agents.

”I will work hard for the Amnesty Programme; I will make sure that the people of Niger Delta benefit from this organization. If they do not benefit, I would have also destroyed myself. When I finish here, where I am going to? To you! At the end of my day, when I come back, I am coming back to you. I will live in your midst. If I have not done well, will I have any face to look at you?

“I am really elated. For you to have come out from your tight schedules and come to this office, I am ready to give you any support. This is the support I need more than any other thing. Let my people know that they have a place here that they can call home. This is your home. This is the capital of Niger Delta. So, please, let us work together. Let us stop bringing down people. Let us work for the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari”.

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The upper chamber also said all monies that may from time to time be appropriated and authorised by any tier of government should be part of the funding for the completion of the project.

It said all loans or grants from time to time made to the country for the purpose of completing the Ajaokuta Steel Company should be accommodated.

This followed the adoption of the “Ajaokuta Steel Company Completion Fund Bill, 2018 passed by the Senate.

The Bill slated for concurrence, was presented by Senate Leader, Senator Ahme Lawan.

The proposed legislation stated that the monies in the fund shall be applied by the minister subject to appropriation by the National Assembly only for the construction, improvement, extension, enlargement and replacement of infrastructure and works, including the provision, acquisition, improvement and replacement of other capital assets required in respect of or in connection with the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Company project.

It added that the cash shall be used for the acquisition of land and of any right or interest in or over land and in respect of the use of any invention; the carrying on of any survey, research or investigation preparatory to the under taking of any such purpose as is referred to in paragraph a and b or the formation of any plan or scheme for the development, improvement, of Ajaokuta Steel Company project.

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who presided, said the Bill, if signed into law, would go a long way to facilitate the quick completion of the Ajaokuta Steel complex.

The Senate also adopted the Presidential Programme on Rehabilitation and Reintegration (establishment and implementation) Bill 2018.

The Bill provides legal instrument to implement the Presidential Amnesty programme in the area of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration.

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