The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brigadier General Paul Boroh (rtd) has told emergent militant group that there is nothing to avenge in the Niger Delta, stressing that what the region needs are thinkers who can further its cause for sustainable development.
Boroh, who made this call on Monday at an event to mark this year’s Issac Boro Day, expressed delight that ex-agitators, elders, leaders, governors, and virtually all the people of the Niger Delta have dissociated themselves from the militants, whom he said, are still living in the past in which violence was supposed to pay.
He then warned that, “With low oil prices, fracking, especially in the United States and the high probability of oil production in other parts of the country, less attention maybe paid to the Niger Delta, so it makes sense for the people of the Region to maximize the opportunities they have now including the Niger Delta Development Commission, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the Presidential Amnesty Programme and the Derivation formula that gives the region extra funds.
“There are also the mass job opportunities to be created from the construction of the Calabar-Lagos railways. Doubtlessly many of the region’s problems have not been solved, but the country has shown a marked interest in giving a listening ear, so if there are issues some people want addressed, they should table them instead of a resort to violence which will alienate the region from the rest of the country.”
While insisting that the region is in need of thinkers who can further its cause for sustainable development, Boroh said; “There is nothing to avenge, the region is not in need of avengers, the region is in need of thinkers who can further its cause for sustainable development.
“We in the Presidential Amnesty Programme are happy that the Niger Delta ex-agitators, elders, leaders, governors, and practically all the people of the Niger Delta have disassociated themselves from those who continue to live in the past in which violence was supposed to pay. I advise Niger Delta youths to think and focus on the future and learn from the example of Jasper Adaka Boro who after initially fighting for separatism, saw the wisdom in a greater country and sacrificed his life fighting for a united Nigeria.”
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