S
ixteen years ago, precisely on Friday,
December 3, 2004, at the Sheraton
Hotels and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, I
listened with real curiosity to the
current Cordinator, Presidential Amnesty
Programme, Professor Charles Dokubo,
then a staff of the Nigerian Institute of In-
ternational Affairs(NIIA), speak passion-
ately to underline his position and express
the depth of his conviction, at a one-day
workshop organized by a civil society or-
ganization. The workshop had as theme;
Expanding Access to Effective Remedy for
Violations of Economic, Social and Cultur-
al Rights in the Niger Delta.
On that day, at that time and in that place,
among other things, Dr. Charles Dokubo,
as he then was, stated that; the Niger Delta
region was the most backward in the coun-
try and urged the government to work to-
wards ensuring economic rehabilitation
and environmental resuscitation for the
region.
The government, in his view, must desist
from the current non-participatory ap-
proach to development in the region, but
rather embrace a broad-based consultative
approach that will give the people of the
Niger Delta some sense of ownership over
their own issues. He was also of the opin-
ion that effective monitoring systems must
be put in place to enhance democracy at
all levels and that adequate sensitization
and education on non-violent advoca-
cy and engagement strategies to be made
available to the people of the Niger Delta
so as to achieve sustainable development.
He submitted that to effectively resolve the
Niger Delta crisis, government and other
Nigerians should begin to see the problem
of the Niger Delta as a national one and not
restricted to the region.
Indeed, from the above it is clear that
Professor Dokubo is but a clear thinker
that can cull everything down into the right
point-and capped with capacity to creating
endless possibilities.
It’s may, therefore not be categorized as an
overstatement to conclude that the Feder-
al Government consideration for a clear
thinker to handle the broad economic,
social and environmental challenges be-
deviling the Niger Delta, and someone that
will perform this patriotic responsibility,
and provide this care at both moral and
fundamental level, informed the appoint-
ment of Professor Charles Dokubo, as
the Special Adviser to The President on
Niger Delta And Coordinator, Presidential
Amnesty Programme, on March 13, 2018,
by President Muhammadu Buhari. His
appointment without any shadow of the
doubt has inspired millions of Niger Del-
tans with hope of brighter prospects for the
Presidential Amnesty Programme –which
happens to be one of the most sensitive
initiatives established to bring peace in the
troubled Niger Delta region via disarma-
ment, empowerment and reintegration of
the youths.
Naturally, such high profiled but merited
appointment will not go without eliciting
traditional sets of reaction. First, while
some commentators viewed the appoint-
ment of Dokubo, a native of Abonema,
Akuku-Toru Local Government of Rivers
State, and the Director of Research and
Studies at the Nigerian Institute of Interna-
tional Affairs, as Mr President’s ‘smart’ way
of returning the problem to the owners for
solution, others view the development as
well-intention, since like his predecessors,
Dokubo, is from the region, and aware of
what the people stoically endures. Such ex-
perience they submitted, will spur him to
performance that will reverse the present
predicaments facing the region; bring out
something different that will help shape the
region; and rededicate, promote and inten-
sify resource generation that all federating
units can utilize.
Talking about a similar programme at the
global stage and its inherent benefits, a par-
ticular one that naturally comes to mind is
the Burundi’s demobilization programme,
described as social transfer programme
combining cash and in-kind benefit and
lasted between 2004 t0 2010.
As documented by Olivia D’ Aoust, Ol-
ivier Sterok and Philip Verwimp, the 1993-
2009 coonflict in Burundi was driven by
years of ethnic discrimination. In the year
2000, the Arsha Peace Agreement laid the
foundation for a peace process and a new
constitution based on power sharing and
de-ethnicized political competition. The
programme was cordinated by the World
Bank, and organized in three phases; the
demobilization, reinsertion and the rein-
tegration.
The demobilization phase started with
disarmament followed by transfer of the
combatants to the demobilization centre.
Ex combatants spent eight days in the cen-
tre, attending training on economic strate-
gies and entrepreneurship opportunities as
well as peace and reconciliation.
As part of the reinsertion phase, demobi-
lized combatants received a cash allowance
worth months salary, paid in four install-
ments over a period of eighten months
.Demobilized combatants received the first
re-insertion payment when leaving the de-
mobilization centre, called the transitional
Subsistence Allownce(TSA) by the World
Bank, the reinsertion money was dedicat-
ed to ‘enable ex-combatant return to their
community and to sustain themselves and
their families for a period of time.
Comparatively, when one juxtaposes this
account with our amnesty model, the miss-
ing link becomes evident.
There is a long history of inabilities on
the part of the nation’s successive amnesty
handlers to come up with, and implement
a well foresighted plan as demonstrated in
Burundi. These particular failure/failings
have forced many Nigerians at different
times and places query the handler’s intel-
ligence and in some cases concluded that
most of the former coordinators lack dis-
tinct set of aptitude a leader must demon-
strate in three central context of work; the
accomplishments of task, working with
and through other people, and judging
oneself and adapting one’s behaviors ac-
cordingly.
Although Professor Charles Dokubo
led administration is in my views making
frantic effort to change the narrative, but
judging from both the operational matrix
as well as the environmental dynamix, this
may be a very difficult task to achieve.
This voiced opinion is based on two sep-
arate but related arguments.
First, apart from stakeholders question-
ing the wisdom behind teaching a man
to fish in an environment where there is
no river to fish or training a man without
job creation plan, how will FG explain the
fact that the amnesty initiative which was
programmed to empower the youths of
the region via employment, have finally
left the large army of professionally-trained
ex-militants without job. In fact, the region
and of course nation is in dire state of strait
because unemployment has diverse impli-
cations. While pointing out that security
wise, large unemployed youth population
is a threat to the security of the few that are
employed, and any transformation agenda
that does not have job creation at the centre
of its programme will take us nowhere’,
The second arguments thrive on the
belief that the amnesty programme in
the estimation of Nigerian government
is succeeding, as there is relative peace in
the region. And since the exploitation of
the region is going on unchecked with the
privileged political class flourishing in ob-
scene splendor as they pillage and ravage
the resources from the region at will while
the people of the region diminish socially
and economically. But looking at commen-
taries,the Niger Deltans with critical inter-
est,are not particularly happy that the FG
has abandoned the original amnesty docu-
ment as proclaimed by Yar’Adua which was
meant to stand on a tripod-with the first
part of the tripod target at disarmament
and demobilization process; the second
phase to capture rehabilitation which is
the training processes, while third phase is
the Strategic Implementation Action Plan.
This last phase, they noted, was designed
to massively develop the Niger Delta, but
fortunately ignored by the Federal Govern-
ment.
Regardless of what others may say, prop-
er management of these teaming youth
and integrated development of the region
are the panacea to determining the success
or otherwise of the programme. It is only
by engaging these teaming youths through
employment creation that the incessant
youth restiveness can be arrested.
However, if we look hard enough at
the moment, we will as a nation discover
that the challenge confronting the region
is neither rooted in Professor Dokubo’s
leadership nor rests on the Presidential
Amnesty programme but principally lies
in the system The region in my view is
poor because the Federal Government
has become reputed for taking decision
that breeds poverty coupled with the fact
that policymakers do not know how to get
rid of such failures, but instead, heeds the
wrong advice.
To change this narrative, the only step
that will inject a new plot to this old story
is for the FG; like Dokubo noted 16 years
ago, to desist from the current non-par-
ticipatory approach to development in the
region, but rather embrace a broad-based
consultative approach that will give the
people of the Niger Delta some sense of
ownership over their own issues.
Jerome-Mario Utomi (jeromeutomi@ya-
hoo.com ,08032725374, writes from Lagos,
Nigeria.
