About 300 former Niger
Delta militants, who embraced the presidential amnesty programme, were
yesterday given equipment worth several billions of naira for them to be
self-employed.
The equipment were
distributed to the former militants in Lagos State by the Federal Government
through the Presidential Amnesty Office. Some of the items were welding and
fabrication equipment, building materials and fish farming equipment.
The Head, Post Training
Empowerment in the Amnesty Office, Mr. Joel Bisina, urged the beneficiaries to
judiciously manage the equipment. Bisina stressed that so far, 1,200 were
beneficiaries of the empowerment programme out of which 300 were given the
equipment to make them self-employed.
Some of the 300
beneficiaries were trained in South Africa while the rest were trained in
Nigeria. To benefit from the programme, Bisina explained that they underwent a
year training in various fields and additional two weeks refresher course in
Nigeria.
He said: “Let me tell you
today that the equipment you are about to get are not to be sold by you, but
for you to generate income, which will make you be a better person in the
society.
With this gesture, you
are not expected to look for jobs, but to be self-employed. “Also, I want you
to know that the top 10 richest people in the world today are entrepreneur who
employ thousands of people and not employees.
“The beginning may be
difficult, but you will become who you want to become in the future. People
will not patronise you because you participated in the amnesty programme, but
because you are creative with your business.”
Also speaking, the
Special Adviser to the Presidency on Niger Delta Affairs, Hon. Kingsley Kuku,
said that Nigeria had moved to the next level in achieving the Millennium
Development Goal of 2050.
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