The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA), Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, has solicited the partnership of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) towards the development of the Niger Delta region in accordance with the Willinks Commission of 1957.
Prince Amgbare who stated this on Monday during a courtesy visit to the PAP Administrator, Dr. Dennis Otuaro, in Abuja, also re-echoed the importance of the Authority in the Niger Delta.
Amgbare, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Isaac Ombe, recalled that the Authority was conceived as a special purpose vehicle to drive development in the Niger Delta Basin.
He noted that when the Authority could not achieve its goals, several other agencies were set up to meet the agitations of the region.
He added that another purpose of his visit was to seek PAP’s assistance in the area of food security campaigns being embarked upon by the Authority.
“My visit is primarily to forge synergy with the PAP office to drive meaningful economic development of the region in line with the vision of the Willinks Commission of 1957.
“The Niger Delta Basin Development Authority was conceived as a special purpose vehicle to drive development in the Niger Delta Basin.
“However, when it failed to achieve its goals, agitation in the region heightened giving birth to other interventionist agencies like the Directorate of Food Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the latest being the Presidential Amnesty Programme ( PAP).
“My mission to PAP is to seek your cooperation to drive home the “Food Security Is The Real Security” campaign of the NDBDA”, Amgbare added.
In his response, Dr. Otuaro reiterated the commitment of the PAP office to addressing the agitation of the Niger Delta people through various development strategies, noting that agriculture is one real means to achieving human and national security.
Otuaro disclosed that plans are being put in place by the Amnesty Programme to expand its dragnet to include scholarship programmes to non-arms bearers like women to learn vocational skills in an effort towards sustaining the desired lasting peace in the Niger Delta.
He assured the NDBDA boss of PAP’s preparedness to tackle the perennial flooding and its associated challenges in the region together with the Authority.
Otuaro commended Amgbare for sustaining a sterling track record and his dedication to the development of the Niger Delta and assured that the two agencies will work together to achieve President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the region.