The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, has advised youths from the oil rich Niger Delta to embrace the incoming administration of Muhammadu Buhari for the development of the region.
Kuku made the comment while addressing a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.
He said it would not be right for the youth populace to begin to judge the Buhari administration even before its commencement but to deal fairly with it in anticipation of the desired development of the region.
The President’s aide said he was optimistic that Buhari would be fair to the region as President Goodluck Jonathan distributed developmental projects across the country.
He also urged the youths and the ex-militants, undergoing reintegration under the Amnesty Programme, to ensure the sustenance of peace in the oil rich region.
Kuku advised the youths not to engage in anything that would portray the Niger Delta youth as people, who only worked for peace under their kinsman, Jonathan, while he held sway as President.
He said, “I know that Buhari will definitely address the issue of the Niger Delta development.
“I want you people to come to Muhammadu Buhari Administration with open mind and don’t judge him before it even started.
“I believe that he is going to bring development to the Niger Delta. We may lose out in some things but the government under Buhari will treat all Nigerians equally the same way Jonathan did.
“You have maintained the peace in Nigeria for four years and the same we want you to sustain it even under Buhari so that it will not look like we only gave peace to our brother while in power.
“We owe this country this peace for development; there cannot be development without peace.”
Kuku said the existing peace in the Niger Delta should not be taken for granted.
Kuku, who urged the incoming administration to ensure infrastructural development of the Niger Delta, noted that the region could only develop with peace.
He stated also that the Federal Government had not implemented the other components of the Amnesty Programme such as development of new towns, environmental reclamation and the issue of the recommended community share of oil, which was included in the Petroleum Industry Bill.
He said the Federal Government,in its the Amnesty Programme, had only executed the Disarm, Distabilise and Reintegrate schemes, which involved 30,000 youths of the Niger Delta.
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