Beneficiaries present award to President in UK From Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, has assured the people of the Niger Delta that President Bola Tinubu will continue to support the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) to deliver on its mandate for the socio-economic advancement and development of the region and the country.
Idris spoke at a PAP interactive session with its foreign scholarship beneficiaries, organised in London by the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Brutu Otuaro, on the sidelines of President Tinubu’s state visit to the United Kingdom.
A statement signed by the Special Assistant on Media to the PAP Administrator, Igoniko Oduma, said the foreign scholarship beneficiaries presented an Award of Appreciation to the President for his strong support for the programme, which it said had resulted in the large-scale onshore and offshore deployment of beneficiaries for various undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
Among the dignitaries at the event were the Minister of State for Petroleum, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; the Special Assistant on Diaspora Matters to the Governor of Delta State, Olorogun Gloria Aghaghovia; officials of the Ijaw People’s Association, Great Britain and Ireland; and other Niger Delta groups.
Idris, who received the award on behalf of President Tinubu, said the PAP under the leadership of Dr Otuaro was “building a community of intellectuals.” According to him, there is a need for the President to continue funding the PAP, stressing that the programme has changed the hitherto negative narrative of the Niger Delta for good.
The minister, while addressing the students, said: “I am going to deliver this plaque to him.
I will also tell him what I have seen here, and that there is a need for him to continue to support the Presidential Amnesty Programme.
“All of you young men and women benefiting from the Presidential Amnesty Programme here in the UK, over 223 of you, are undergoing various undergraduate and postgraduate studies; this is very heartwarming.
“This is a programme that is producing a community of intellectuals who are not only interested in the development of the Niger Delta, but also Nigeria as a whole.” He commended Dr Otuaro for his hard work and the impact of the programme on youths and communities in the region.
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