Untying the Niger Delta Knot

Agreeably, Nigeria\’s Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for ex-militants of Niger Delta region extraction is unsustainable. For instance, since the programme started in 2009, the payment of stipends to identified ex-militants have helped to achieve relative peace in a region hitherto known for violent militancy. But it has not stopped the promises of violence from re-echoing in some of the recognised nine oil-producing states. Government appears to be in a fix in untying this knot; cease the capital-intensive amnesty and return to the days of militancy or continue to pay for relative peace. Currently, mixed anxieties abound about the continuation or scrapping of the programme.

Nextier SPD Report on the Presidential Amnesty Programme has developed pragmatic pathways that PAP must transition to and ensure peace and sustainable development of the Niger Delta region. The Report assessed the programme and came up with four transition options for government to adopt.

The first transition option for the PAP coincides with current speculations of a near end. An end to the programme as with current speculations will receive mixed reactions from the Niger Delta community, government institutions, policy experts and other stakeholders. The end of the programme as recommended in the Report must be procedural as opposed to an abrupt end. The reasons are simple. First, a hasty end to PAP can lead to re-emergence of violence, which the programme has paid to keep away since 2009. The ₦65,000 stipend is a major source of income for most beneficiaries; therefore, government must be strategic in breaking the dependency on the pay. For instance, the non-payment or delay of it has led to a series of protests and promises of war in the past by aggrieved ex-agitators. According to the Report, some beneficiaries of the monthly stipend turn down full-time jobs with a remotely similar remuneration. The first transition option in the Report proffers for government, a slow, procedural and tactful approach for ending the programme in order not to lose the peace that has cost billions in almost a dozen years.

Second, the Report suggests that registered beneficiaries should complete their reintegration programme. The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) in light of the preceding arguments must map out a specified period to phase out the programme. This must be preceded by sustainable efforts to alternate the dependency of beneficiaries to the monthly stipend. Government must think through these initiatives as it is crucial to ensure self-reliance of ex-agitators who have gotten used to government\’s monthly bonuses. Therefore, the vocational and skills acquisition aspect of the PAP should be intensified to produce self-sufficient beneficiaries that can start their lives with fewer government efforts. The PAP is the very cord that hold together a hard-reached peace in Nigeria\’s revenue pot. Therefore, a quick and dirty approach to ending it will only ruin the achievements of nearly a dozen years.

Full Report – Assessment of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP)