INDI demands overhaul of 29-member Amnesty Programme Evaluation Committee

The Itsekiri National Development Initiative, INDI, has demanded an overhaul of the Elder Timi Kaiser Ogoriba led 29- member Presidential Amnesty Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Committee, as a result of the non-inclusion of any person from Itsekiri Ethnic Nationality, “as critical stakeholder or as professional in the third phase.”

Fresh Angle International can report that the position of INDI is sequel to a communique released after the ‘Itsekiri Ex-agitators Forum Meeting’, held at The Felli Guest House, Angle Park in Warri, Sunday January 12.

While calling on the Presidential Amnesty Office, under the leadership of Professor Charles Dokubo, to prioritize the Itsekiri Ex-agitators in the skills’ acquisition category and approval of genuine vendors for the training of Ex-agitators with a view to ensuring that they are quickly deployed to their training centres, INDI noted that from 2014 till date, no single Itsekiri Ex-agitator have been deployed for training.

The communique signed by Com. Dennis Mene, President Itsekiri National Development Initiative, INDI and Coordinator, Itsekiri Ex-agitators Forum, Com. Wilson Keneku, Secretary Itsekiri Ex-agitators Forum, John Okotie, 

Leader Itsekiri Ex-agitators Forum and Orighoye Bright, Leader Itsekiri Ex-agitators Forum, commended the Education Department of the Presidential Amnesty Office, “for the attention given to Itsekiri Ex-agitators in the Education category that led to their deployment in the 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and those for 2019/2020 that has already been shortlisted by the office for deployment this year.” 

INDI stressed: “Several issues of urgent importance considered ranging from non-meeting with the leadership of the Itsekiri Ex-agitators, since assumption of Office of the present management led by Professor Charles Dokubo and non-employment/appointment of Itsekiri as there is no single Itsekiri working as either SA or staff.

“The last stakeholders meeting we had with the office was with his predecessor on the 1st March 2017 at the conference room of the PAP office Abuja, where the issue of non-representation of Itsekiri was raised in the office and it was ascertained that indeed no Itsekiri in the office and promise to correct it  before he was removed from office, the none deployment of Itsekiri Ex-agitators in the skills acquisition category from 2014 till date,  the delay in the approval of vendors for the training of Itsekiri Ex-agitators” and “no meeting with Itsekiri nation as critical stakeholders in the Programme till date.” 

While thanking the leadership of the Warri Development Congress and the Niger Delta Advocates for Good Governance and Environmental Justice for, “the immense contributions to this struggle and to ensure that Itsekiri Ex-agitators in the third phase benefit maximally from the programme”, INDI request for a meeting with the management of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, “to iron out grey areas still affecting the Itsekiri Nation in the programme.”

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