Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to confirm Col. Milland Dixon Dikio, the substantive coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).
The Niger Delta group stressed that making the Interim Administrator of PAP the substantive coordinator of the programme would speedy transformation of the ex-agitators into entrepreneurs.
The forum noted that Dikio had impacted on the programme within a short time in office, adding that the reforms and programmes introduced by him (Dikio) were actualising the mandate of PAP.
In a statement made available to journalists yesterday, PANDEF’s Chairman, Emmanuel Essien, described the reintegration programme of Dikio as unique saying all the stakeholders from the region were behind him.
He said: “I want to congratulate Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd.) on his one year in office. We are very happy with his performance in the Presidential Amnesty office.
“He is doing very well compared to the past administrators that have been there. As a matter of fact, he is really focusing on the core mandate of the presidential amnesty so we are very happy with him and we congratulate him on his first one year in office.”
Essien said the best gift President Buhari would give to the Niger Delta region was to give Dikio the full authority to run PAP.
“The stakeholders are quite happy, at PANDEF, we have recommended that he should be confirmed as the Administrator and Special Adviser to the President on PAP. This is the opinion of the majority of the stakeholders in the region because of his excellent performance,” he said.
Essien said it was heartwarming to see many ex-agitators showing interest in becoming entrepreneurs because of Dikio’s plans, reforms and strategies.
He said Dikio should be empowered to complete the process of making the new dreams of ex-agitators a reality for sustainable peace and development of the region.
