News
Amnesty Programme: My vision has paid off, says Dokubo as 20 graduate beneficiaries undergo NAEC training


BY: Ikenna Oluka
Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, said on Tuesday, that his vision of creating a Job Placement and International Partners Engagement Unit (JP-IDPE) last year has started yielding results.
He stated this in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, at the opening ceremony of a Train the Trainer (ToT) training on Nigeria Agricultural Enterprise Curriculum for 20 graduate beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme.
The training programme is fully funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) Nigeria, and organised in partnership with the Presidential Amnesty Programme by Market Development in the Niger Delta (MADE), a non-profit project sponsored by UK-DFID.
Dokubo, who noted that the partnership project was the first of its kind in the Amnesty Programme described it has historic, and expressed optimism that it will create pathways for other international agencies to partner the Amnesty Office.
“On my appointment and assumption of duty as Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme in 2018, I studied the existing implementation strategies and realized that little effort had been made to extend a hand of partnership to relevant international organizations.
In order to rectify this omission, I created the Job Placement and International Development Partners Engagement Unit on May 2, 2018. I am glad that my vision has paid off today. The JP-IDPE unit network produced this MADE project that we see today and we look forward to having more of it”.
He disclosed that in a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Amnesty Office, MADE agreed among others, to facilitate linkage between the Presidential Amnesty Programme and service providers working within its fisheries and poultry sector; provide a Train the Trainer (ToT) training for 20 beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme, and select the best five beneficiaries from the NAEC ToT programme for further training for them to become master trainers.
To ensure that the project is sustained, Dokubo said beneficiaries of the training programme would be certified as Amnesty Programme training consultants in all vocational and empowerment refresher programmes of agric-based contracts, and future agric training programmes will as a matter of criteria utilise trained MADE beneficiaries as a requisite for their contract liabilities and payments.
He said: “The JP-IPDE unit shall ensure that beneficiaries of this post-training scheme receive their full engagement package and are listed as engaged/placed in the database. This includes provision of office space and training room with the necessary office and training room setups through the already contracted job placement consultants.
“It will interest you to note that since the creation of the Amnesty Programme, we’ve not had our own beneficiaries as training consultants, neither have we setup office/training rooms for anyone. This is an entirely new model that we have formed with the help of MADE and that is why I am here today. Each of these beneficiaries will be registered with the CAC as a consulting firm; provided with an office and training room, NAEC aquaculture and poultry kits, among others. We are hereby creating a business model with multiplier effects. I commend MADE, DFID and DAI for this project.”
In his remarks, MADE Team Leader, Mr. Tunde Oderinde, said the partnership with the Amnesty Programme is about the youth of the Niger Delta and the future of Nigeria. He gave assurance that MADE will back up beneficiaries of the NAEC training with mentorship.
He said: “This initiative is not just another capacity building; it is handing over a business to our participants, just like the Coordinator emphasised in his speech, and you are actually our future consultants. The most important thing to learn about NAEC is that it is a tool that will help enterprises understand the problems around their business. It is not just one of those training curriculums; it is actually a tool to diagnose any problem in any enterprise. We are charging you not just to take this lightly but to see it as the future that is yet to come.
Within your engagement in the community and the sector you eventually settle in, some of us that will become the master trainers can begin to adapt this into other sectors. I want to tell you that it is not just garbage in, garbage out; it is about you internalising what you are receiving here and turning it into business. It is not just going to be a training that you have PAP with time supplying you with people to train; you need to go all the way out into the market. In all you do, wherever you go, you must become the ambassador of NAEC.”
Also speaking at the event, a traditional ruler, Sir Edidiong Eyoh Nsuquo Essien, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for developing the Niger Delta region through the instrumentality of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. Essien, who is the Village Head of Nsukara Ufot, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, expressed hope that beneficiaries of the training programme will live up to expectation.
News
France Urged to Address Colonial Legacy as Senegalese Activists Call for Reparations in Dakar Roundtable
Reporter: Sandra Ani


France’s colonial legacy came under renewed scrutiny as journalists, historians, and pan-African activists gathered at African Memorial Square in Dakar for a powerful roundtable advocating reparations and economic justice.
The event highlighted growing demands for France to take full responsibility for its historical role in Senegal and across West Africa.


Organized by advocacy groups including the Association of Descendants of Senegalese Soldiers, the Front for the Withdrawal of French Military Bases (GASSI), and JIF’AFRIK, the roundtable brought together influential voices pushing for reparatory justice and structural transformation.
Among the key speakers were Babacar Dioh of the Thiaroye 44 Movement—a coalition of descendants of Senegalese tirailleurs—and Souleymane Jules Diallo, leader of JIF’AFRIK. Discussions centered on two central demands: official reparations for colonial-era injustices and the urgent renegotiation of trade and military agreements that activists say perpetuate economic dependence.
“The time for symbolic gestures is over,” said Dioh. “We are now filing an official reparations claim and taking concrete steps to hold France accountable.”
Speakers called for the dismantling of existing neocolonial frameworks, stressing the ecological, financial, and social harm that has endured beyond the colonial period. The roundtable marks a turning point in Dakar’s positioning as a hub for coordinated African-led advocacy aimed at restoring historical justice.
This event adds momentum to a growing continental movement seeking tangible reparative action from former colonial powers and reinforces the call for equity, autonomy, and acknowledgment of historical truths.
News
Gov Mbah Inaugurates Committee to End Gender-Based Violence in Enugu


The Enugu State government has inaugurated a steering committee to eliminate Gender-Based Violence, GBV, in the state, declaring zero tolerance for the social malaise.
The inauguration took place at the Government House Enugu.
The panel, which is chaired by the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, draws its membership from the Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Industrialisation, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education as well as the Civil Society.
Inaugurating the panel known as the Steering Committee for Strengthening Institutional and Community Responses to End Gender-Based Violence/Domestication of Enugu State Gender Policy using the Oputa Panel approach, Governor Peter Mbah restated his administration’s commitment to not bringing perpetrators of GBV to book, but also putting in place proactive measures – activities, infrastructure, and systems in place to prevent them.
Mbah, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said, “We take gender-based violence seriously. We have zero tolerance for it, and in Enugu State, we are ready to go the extra mile to deal with it.
“If you notice, the government has selected people that are very committed to this goal. This is not an activity where we just want to check-off the list. We will track this. We will monitor this, and we will have quarterly engagements on the successes that this particular committee has achieved in terms of reference that we are going to send.
“We will tighten those terms of reference indicators, so that we monitor what we are doing both in terms of cost input and the value added. It’s very important to us. Many people will be involved – civil society, the police and various ministries.”
He however, said that the effort was to protect everyone, men and women alike, as GBV was not restricted to any gender.
“The whole idea is to hold people responsible that are involved in matters relating to gender violence and deter people that by culture or by association get involved in that, protect women, protect our children, and in the case of violence against men, protect our men because most times we misconstrue gender violence to mean women, but it can also be men too.
“We encourage our men to speak out and to make sure they understand that the policy that Enugu State is soon going to domesticate is for everyone, and not only for the female gender,” he stated.
In her remark, Mrs. Enih, explained that the Oputa Panel approach was inspired by the need to cover all local peculiarities in domesticating the policy on GBV, restarting government’s confidence in the members of the panel.
“The approach we are going to use is the Oputa Panel approach, and in the Oputa Panel approach, we are going to tour the 17 Local Government Areas to get firsthand information about what our people are going through because policy is meant for the people, and a policy should suit the people.
“Again, every community has its peculiar problems, so that’s why the government decided that if we have to domesticate the gender policy, we have to hear from the people who own the policy and know the changes that they desire to see. That is the reason we are using this approach.
“The committee members are to also serve as judges. As we gather this information from our people, we will come back to tailor it in a way to suit the people of Enugu State, and then our policy is ready.
“We want the people to know that there is a gender policy for them. I can assure you that when the people are aware that there is such a policy, they will seek for the enforcement of that policy. So, this is not going to be one of those policies that will just lie on the shelf,” she said.


Digital solutions provider, Globacom, has congratulated Christians in Nigeria on this year’s Easter celebration, and urged them to emulate the noble qualities of Jesus Christ.
The company, in a goodwill message to the Christian faithful in the country, lauded their perseverance through the Lenten period which preceded Easter. It enjoined them to always promote the ideals of selflessness, love and peace among all as a way of demonstrating the virtues of the exemplary life of Jesus Christ.
“Peace, love and sacrifice are the central message of Easter. Christ offered himself in atonement for the sins of the world and he lived a life which made Him an eternal symbol of peace and goodwill for mankind”, Globacom added.
The company enjoined all Nigerians to share in the lessons of promoting selflessness, a necessary ingredient in the growth and development of every society. It also enjoined all Nigerians to join hands to make Nigeria a better place for all.
Easter is celebrated yearly at the end of the Lenten season of fasting and prayer considered as a ritual of purification for the Christian faithful. It also precedes the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Good Friday and His eventual resurrection on Easter Sunday.
The company assured its customers of seamless voice, data and Short Messaging Service (SMS) during and after the Easter celebrations, while urging them to avail themselves of the various data and voice offerings on the network.
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