The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) on Friday said it has successfully enrolled 847 ex-agitators to acquire Information Communications Technology ( ICT) skills through the platform of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
The Special Adviser to PAP Interim Administrator, Freston Akpor who made this known in Abuja said the PAP led by Major General Barry Ndiomu (rtd), had initiated several programmes to equip the ex-agitators to make them self-reliant.
He noted that the Federal Government has also sponsored about seventy-five (75) pilots and aircraft engineers to South Africa and France for type-rating as part of the Programme’s aviation training scheme.
He said, “Under General Ndiomu, a total of eight hundred and forty-seven (847) delegates are undergoing training in the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in various ICT specialized fields with certification in digital marketing, e-mail marketing, social media marketing, computer appreciation, search engine optimization as well as technical and computer writing.
“Similarly, the PAP is sponsoring seventy-five (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 thirty-five (35) delegates are pilots while forty (40) are billed for aircraft engineering.
He also explained that the recently introduced PAP Cooperative Scheme with an initial sum of N1.5 billion naira, was designed to ensure the ex-agitators were empowered to contribute meaningfully to the country’s GDP, by creating their own wealth through entrepreneurial activities.
He added, “A major boost to that initiative was the launching of the PAP Cooperative Scheme with an initial sum of one point five billion Naira (#1.5bn) as seed money in the account with an additional one hundred million naira (#100m) 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,” he stated.