About 450 ex-agitators have been sent to facilities in the Niger Delta to learn the business of oil spill response, clean-up and remediation in line with the Train, Employ and Mentor (TEM) scheme introduced by Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) Col. Milland Dikio (retd).
The development came a few days after the scheme sent 400 ex-agitators to various farms in the region to learn agro-based skills, increasing the number of beneficiaries deployed for training within two weeks to 850.
Apart from the training on oil spill cleanup, others were sent to acquire skills in solar engineering, plumbing, electrical installations, marine, metal and wood works.
Speaking to the ex-agitators at the end of a second batch of Basic Orientation Course (BOC) organised for them in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Dikio stressed on the importance of wealth creation and employment generation in the region.
He advised the beneficiaries to take their training seriously to enable them become employable, establish businesses and own companies that would help them cater for their families and contribute to the Niger Delta economy.
Dikio insisted that the era of crying over lack of opportunities in the region was over and appealed to them to take advantage of the training to secure their future as entrepreneurs or employable individuals.
The amnesty programme boss said there was no longer time to waste on frivolities promising that PAP under his leadership was in a hurry to make new millionaires and billionaires in the region.
Addressing them he said: “You’re going to be deployed to learn and then add your own knowledge and skill to making the environment of the region better. We want to clean up our environment not only for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren. I want to urge you to take the training seriously. Anything you’re doing, do it well and you will see the result.
“What you will become tomorrow is what you decide today. You can learn from the experiences of all those who have made it today. This training facility where you are is own by a young man. He didn’t achieve it in one day, it took him years but he was focused and determined to succeed”.
Sharing his experience with the beneficiaries, a prominent ex-agitator, Pastor Nature Dumale Kieghe, said he became a success story because of his resolve not to go back to his old ways.
He said: “I was rejected by even my own family members because of my lifestyle. I was a lost child. No one could ever believe that I could be saved but here I am today with so much to show for turning around from my evil ways. I have traveled round the world, speaking to people about the dangers of engaging in destructive acts. You too can be like me if not better”.
