COAS pledges support for PAP, as Gen Ndiomu seeks collaboration for training of ex-agitators

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya, says the Nigerian Army will continue to improve on the support it has provided for the Presidential Amnesty Programme in all its activities.

General Yahaya made the pledge when the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Maj. Gen. Barry Tariye Ndiomu (Rtd) paid him a courtesy visit in his office at the Army Headquarters, on Thursday in Abuja.

He assured the PAP new boss: “We are better poised to further support the activities of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and support you towards achieving your mandate”.

“Let me first of welcome you back to the Army Headquarters and appreciate you for making this your first point of visit on assumption of office as the new Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP).

“For us here, you are just a phone call away and wherever we can support and intervene to make you achieve your mandate, we are ready. We have cooperated with the previous administrators. But we have more special relationship with the current Interim Administrator and leveraging upon that, we are better poised to further support the activities of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and support you towards achieving your mandate.

“I believe and I know that by the grace of God you will deliver. Any other requirement you have in mind, like the training facilities you talked about, if the request is made, we will look at where is suited to support you. Like you mentioned the training institutions the Nigerian Army has; you are from here, so you know what we have and where your requirement will fit in.

“We will look at your proposal and will always support you and not only in training, but in any other thing that can come up, where you will need our support, we will always be available to provide such support to you.

“I want to congratulate you on your well deserved appointment based on your competence and your commitment in all your service to the nation”, Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya said.

Earlier, the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Gen. Ndiomu had solicited the support and cooperation of the the Chief of Army Staff to enable him carry out the mandate given to him by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari.

Gen. Ndiomu recalled that the Nigerian Army has been one of the major institutions that has provided immense support to the Presidential Amnesty Programme right from its inception, hence, he deemed it wise to make it one of the very first places to visit in his capacity as the new Interim Administrator to solicit their continuous support and cooperation towards the PAP activities.

“The Nigerian Army has quite a number of training institutions that may be necessary to the capacity building processes of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and we could collaborate with them.

“For instance, we have the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering in Makurdi, Benue State and the Nigerian Army School of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering in Auchi, Edo State; they run all kinds of courses that we think some of these ex-agitators may benefit from, that can lead to their gainful employment or some other roles in terms of entrepreneurship, when they exit the programme eventually.

“It is an honour for me and a very unique privilege to be visiting where I consider my home, four years or more, after disengaging from active service, coming in my capacity as the new Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, an appointment that was recently announced by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

“I have spent barely a month on this new assignment and I can tell you my Chief of Army Staff, that it is a very challenging one, probably different from everything I encountered in my 35 years of active service in the Nigerian Army; but I thank God, we have been very well trained, going through the mill in all the courses that I have attended and also my involvement in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, including ECOMONG Operations in Liberia, exposed me to so many things that I had to apply in dealing with my present assignment.

“Otherwise, I can tell you straight away that it has not been easy and I believe that this particular mandate, handed down to me is even more difficult and challenging and for this reason and I consider my courtesy call on the Chief of Army Staff, the most important one.

“Because, without the Nigerian Army, it will be impossible to accomplish the mandate given to me. I do know that the Nigerian Army has done so much for the Presidential Amnesty Programme over the years. You have contributed immensely to support the programme. You provided security when it was needed and I have come to plead with you that the same support you gave to my predecessors should be sustained in my time.

“We have not taken the role you have played so far and the role you will continue to play for granted. You are indeed our backbone. And there would be many areas of collaborations between the Presidential Amnesty Programme and the Nigerian Army.

“The Nigerian Army has a lot of facilities and a lot of training programmes that will be of benefit to the ex-agitators. I will come back, probably, this time around with a letter or correspondence to that effect. So, those areas of cooperation that we have identified, we can follow through for the training of these ex-agitators, so that we can get them prepared and make them more useful to the society.

“Beyond that, I will like to thank you immensely. Even though the notice was pretty short, as a matter of fact, in less than twelve hours, we got a response from you and that can only happen because of your level of professionalism, your level of commitment to the peace and security of Nigeria and the importance you also place on the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

“I want to thank you most immensely again. I want to thank your staff, particularly the Garrison Commander who has been very supportive. You have done so much for us without hesitating. Whenever we make request, you respond almost immediately. Your GOCs as well, the GOC 6D in particular, has been of immense assistance to the Presidential Amnesty Programme. All your commanders in the general area of the Niger Delta: they have been wonderful, they have been very professional.

“Even when we are not there, we merely send messages and they react very promptly. I want to thank you and through you, to recognize the support they have given to the Presidential Amnesty Programme. On that note I want to thank you for granting us audience. I want to assure you that I will not let you down in the discharge of my responsibilities.

“I know that the Presidential Amnesty Programme has been noted for quite a lot of negative occurrences, but that will not happen in my time. I have resolved to carry out the mandate given to me professionally and to a conclusive state”, Gen. Ndiomu assured the Chief of Army Staff.