Ex-militants enroll in Russian, Malaysian Universities

One hundred and forty nine ex-Niger Delta militants have enrolled in universities in Russia and Malaysia to pursue degree courses, just as 26 others commenced training in aviation technology last month.
Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Head of the Amnesty Office, Kinsley Kuku said during a meeting with former militant leaders in Abuja yesterday that 74 of the students are studying in Malaysian universities and another 75 in Russia.

Kuku said government was convinced that the best way to ensure sustainable development of the Niger Delta was through the development of human capital, and urged people of the zone to embrace education, which government was providing through the amnesty programme.

According to Kuku, the 26 former agitators who were sent to South Africa on March 26 would have the privilege of studying in one of the best aviation schools in the world. While some of them would be trained as pilots, he said, others were being trained as aeronautic engineers.

He paid tribute to President Goodluck Jonathan for driving the amnesty programme from the outset and said that the amnesty granted the former militants was unconditional. “Jonathan rescued the amnesty programme; he raved it up and imbued it with vigour and direction. It’s too bad really. He removed the Amnesty Office from the office of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and brought it to his own office in order to remove the bottlenecks in the programme,” he said.

Besides, he said, President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the commencement of the demobilization process, adding that oil production in the Niger Delta had risen from 700,000 barrels per day in 2008 to 2.3 million today.