Dickson Hails Appointment of Dikio as Amnesty Programme Boss

By Onungwe Obe

The former Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, has commended the appointment of Col. Milland Dikio (Rtd.) as the new Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

Dickson, in a statement issued yesterday by his Media Advisor, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, his Media Advisor, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing another Ijaw son into the vital position of the coordinator of the amnesty programme.

He said the President showed his love for the Ijaw nation with Dikio’s appointment in spite of the pressures on him to take the appointment to other areas because most of the beneficiaries of the amnesty programme were Ijaw youths.

The former governor, however, urged the new coordinator to deploy his expertise as a senior military officer to unite the former Niger Delta militants and promote peace and stability in the region.

Dickson urged all stakeholders in the Niger Delta to set aside their differences and support Dikio in the overall interest of the people now that the appointment has been made.

He also advised Dikio to pay attention to the training and provision of opportunities for self-employment to the youths and explore ways of making the impact of the amnesty programme more visible and sustainable.

He, therefore, called on all ex-agitators, youth leaders and others critical stakeholders to support the new amnesty coordinator because his success would be in the interest of the Ijaw nation, the Niger Delta and Nigeria.

Dickson asked those who indicated interest in the job but couldn’t get it to support the new Amnesty boss in the overall interest of Niger Delta by making their experiences available to him.

He thanked the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno, for the maturity with which he has handled the amnesty office and for finding “our people worthy of trust.”