DON’T SELL YOUR EMPOWERMENT PACKAGE AS IT COMES SOON

 DON’T SELL YOUR EMPOWERMENT PACKAGE AS IT COMES SOON – AMNESTY BOSS

The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig-General Paul Boroh (Rtd) has again advised beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme in the Niger Delta region who have undergone various agricultural empowerment trainings that are waiting for empowerment not to sell their empowerment items as his office was working towards empowering trained delegates soon.

Represented by the Head of the Niger Delta regional office, Boro town (Orubiri), Engineer Jude Gbaboyor at the graduation of eighteen delegates at the end of their month empowerment course in fish farming at the Achievers’’ Farm, Igbogene in Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa state on Thursday, 2018, Gen. Boroh said his office considers the empowerment of trained delegates as the critical point in the ongoing reintegration phase of the programme.

While reiterating the federal government’s commitment towards achieving sustainable in peace, stability and development in the Niger Delta region, the Amnesty boss noted that there could be no meaningful development without peace, even as he enjoined beneficiaries of the programme to make good use of their knowledge in creating wealth through meaningful engagement in agriculture as the go out to start the farms.

In her opening remarks, the training coordinator, Mrs Ngozichi Jonathan-Omo, advised the graduands to remain focused and put the knowledge they have acquired into use for the benefit of their immediate families and the community at large.

According to her, the knowledge they have acquired through the short empowerment training was a tool for life that was capable of sustaining them for life if properly put into good use, just as she commended the delegates for their good conduct and commitment to their studies while the programme lasted.

Also speaking, a former commissioner for environment and Chairman of the Achievers’ Group of companies, High Chief Lionel Jonathan-Omo who took the graduating delegates on special lecture on how to become successful entrepreneurs, pointed out that while crude oil is exhaustible, agriculture is sustainable, having the capacity to sustain them for life.

He admonished the beneficiaries not hesitate to consult Achievers’’ Farm where they needed any further guide and mentorship in fish farming, saying that his doors were wide opened to engage with them.

Earlier, a representative of RDK Exceptionals Limited, the vendor, Mr Kenzy Paribote Commended the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for giving his company the opportunity to train and mentor the eighteen delegates, adding that the knowledge they have acquired would make them to become self-employed and also employers of labour.

Forty three years old Benafeigha Joseph from Sagbama town, a beneficiary, who spoke with newsmen shortly after the graduation ceremony, could not hide his joy for been part of the empowerment training, just as he commended the Amnesty boss for his foresight in encouraging beneficiaries in the programme to explore the abundant opportunities in agriculture, particularly in the area of fish farming.

According to him, the training was very rich and that he would go back Sagbama and put the knowledge he has acquired during the training into use, saying that what he was exposed to during the short training on fish farming was a rare opportunity that could sustain him and his family for life.

“I think with what we have learnt so far, we can on our own establish our own farms even with small resources. We will no longer depend on people because what we have gotten so far from the training is something that we can use to take care of ourselves.

He said the greatest challenge is in the area of the little assistance from the government to enable them go home and establish their own fish farms and become self employed.

On his part, Mr. Ebikemien Amboro, another beneficiary said “the experience was okey, we were taught a lot of things, entrepreneurship, fishery and how to manage, establish and make a living singularly; how to handle things and how to be useful in the society. Now we can spug and hatch fish. We can produce economical feed. Our prayer is that the empowerment should come as promised by the government”

He called on other youths in the region to key into the federal government’s agricultural revolution venturing into agriculture.