The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr. Dennis Otuaro, has described the programme’s scholarship scheme as a critical vehicle for securing a better future for the Niger Delta region.
Dr. Otuaro made the remark on Thursday in Abuja at the opening ceremony of the fifth batch of the two-day Leadership, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation Training for PAP Stakeholders, organised by the PAP in collaboration with the Alumni Association of the National Defence College (AANDEC) at the Nigerian Army War College.
Declaring the workshop open, Otuaro said the large-scale deployment of PAP scholarship beneficiaries to universities within and outside Nigeria was a deliberate strategy to use formal education as a tool for long-term development and stability in the Niger Delta.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Igoniko Oduma, the PAP Administrator explained that his leadership’s strong emphasis on education was aimed at empowering youths to become drivers of peace, prosperity and sustainable development in the region.
“We have seriously focused on education, and the scholarship programme is a proper vehicle for a better tomorrow for our region,” Otuaro said.
“So far, between 2024 and 2025, we have deployed over 9,000 scholarship students to universities within and outside Nigeria. In-country deployment alone this year stands at 4,500. These are deliberate efforts we are taking to prepare our region for tomorrow.”
He stressed that equipping young people with education was essential to addressing future challenges related to peace, socio-economic growth, development and security in the Niger Delta.
“If we don’t equip our youths today with education, tomorrow would not be assured. It is time to prepare for the rainy day, which is why we are deliberately investing in the education of our young ones,” he added.
Otuaro expressed confidence that beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme would make good use of the opportunity, noting that the programme has impacted communities across the Niger Delta over the past two years.
He further explained that the capacity-building workshop was designed to strengthen PAP’s peace-building initiatives in the region, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
