Kuku pleads for revival of vocational centres in Niger Delta

Mr. Kingsley Kuku, former Special Adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs, has pleaded for the revival of all vocational and training centres in the Niger Delta region.

Kuku, who also served as former Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) under Jonathan, made the plea when he visited the Interim Administrator of PAP, Maj.-Gen. Barry Ndiomu, in Abuja.

He expressed regret at the level of damage in some of the centres but urged the interim administrator not to be discouraged from doing the right thing.

“Please bring back these centres, no matter what it will cost you,” he said.

The facility, when revived, can serve as an advanced training centre for universities in the region, even beyond being a facility for training or ex-agitators.

He commended the late President Musa Yar’Adua, ex-President Jonathan, former President Muhammadu Buhari, and the incumbent President, Bola Tinubu, for the creation of PAP and the sustenance of the programme.

Kuku urged the interim administrator to remain steadfast in what he was doing, even in the face of malicious media attacks being launched against him.

He also spoke about the interim administrator’s plan to resuscitate the pilots/aircraft maintenance engineers programme, of which some of the beneficiaries were currently undergoing type-rating certification in South Africa.

According to him, in today’s aviation industry, any pilot without a type rating is nothing, and Ndiomu is working towards making the beneficiaries get work easily after finishing the training.

He expressed delight that the interim administrator had brought back hope to the Niger Delta while assuring him of support, especially towards sustaining the gains of the amnesty programme.

Earlier, Ndiomu told Kuku that his administration was resolutely building on many of his legacies, adding that the enormous number of graduates under the Amnesty Scheme could be traced to Kuku’s doggedness to better the lives of ex-agitators.

According to him, after such hard work and effort put in by Kuku when the PAP programme commenced, it is “disappointing and embarrassing” that his administration came on board and inherited huge debts.

“For me, it was a bit irresponsible and reckless. But I came in here to surmount these challenges,” he said.

He noted that the Amnesty Programme had not fully lived up to its objectives, while recommending a possible transition of the scheme into “a social investment agency” to directly impact the lives of youths in the region.

The interim administrator lamented the vandalism of the Kaiama Vocational Training Centre in Bayelsa.

He disclosed that the training centre in Agadagba-Obon in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State,

when completed, would be named after Kuku.

He further stated that 106 out of over 800 beneficiaries had been trained and certified in various digital skills with the partnership of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

He said that over 600 were currently undergoing various digital courses.