Twenty-six Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, scholarship students have bagged first class in Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State.

A statement released by Igoniko Oduma, the Special Assistant on Media to the Administrator of the PAP, Chief Dennis Otuaro, said the Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Prof Lawrence Ezemonye, disclosed this when the PAP administrator visited the institution on Wednesday.

According to the statement, Otuaro visited Igbinedion University and Benson Idahosa University, Benin, both in Edo State, to interact with the universities’ managements and students on the scholarship of the PAP in the two institutions.

Otuaro expressed his commitment to sustaining the peace, security and development in the Niger Delta through the Presidential Amnesty Programme in line with President Bola Tinubu’s vision.

Otuaro equally assured that he would implement the Amnesty Programme effectively to build confidence in the Niger Delta region and garner support for the Federal Government.

He said, “The Presidential Amnesty Programme is crucial for fostering enduring peace in the Niger Delta. By implementing it efficiently and effectively, we can garner greater support for the Federal Government’s efforts to promote security and development in the Niger Delta.

“That is the vision of President Bola Tinubu which I seek to execute. He believes in sustaining the peace of the Niger Delta. With the president’s belief in the Presidential Amnesty Programme, we need to work harder to ensure that the confidence reposed in us is strengthened.”

Otuaro acknowledged that the Igbinedion University was the first tertiary educational institution to accept PAP scholarship students, saying that their graduates were part of the success story of the Amnesty Programme.

The PAP boss said the Amnesty Programme office would deepen collaboration with its partners with a view to expanding the scope of operations.

He applauded the Founder of Igbinedion University, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, and the university’s management on their 25th anniversary celebration this year.

Interacting with the PAP scholarship students of both universities, who highlighted some of the challenges they were facing, Otuaro assured them that the Amnesty Programme office would address the problems accordingly.

He urged them to shun social vices and take their studies seriously in order for them to be declared worthy in character and learning at their graduation.

The VC of Igbinedion University, Ezemoye, in his remarks, said that apart from the 26 first class graduates, many other PAP scholarship students also got distinctions in professional courses like medicine, nursing and medical laboratory, among others.

Noting that the programme was impacting greatly on the students, the VC commended the PAP for meeting the obligations of the students under scholarship to put them in the vantage position to excel.

Ezemoye promised a strengthened collaborative relation with the PAP in the area of offering opportunities to students in competitive courses like medicine and surgery, nursing, pharmacy, Law and others, especially with the recent increase in its quota of admission.

The Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, was established by the Federal Government as a vehicle to transform ex-agitators in the Niger Delta into entrepreneurs and/or employable citizens who will become net contributors to the economy of the region and the country through effective collaboration with relevant public and private institutions and state governments.

The mission of the PAP include restoring the mandate of the Amnesty Programme to its original intent and take service to the Niger Delta where the ex-agitators are domiciled.

The PAP was also mandated to train the ex-agitators to become entrepreneurs who will act as agents of change to reverse the narrative of a people dependent on stipends, turning them into self-actualised employers of labour and net contributors to the economic prosperity of the Niger Delta.

The Programme was also tasked with coordinating and cooperating with relevant agencies set up by the Federal Government to ensure the development and security of the Niger Delta in line with the broader Amnesty Package.