Yar'Adua had good plans for Niger Delta - Abbe

The former minister of defence lamented that the some parts of the former president’s amnesty programme for the region had not been implemented. Abbe who is the pioneer chairman of the Presidential Committee on the Implementation

of the Amnesty Programme said the current insurgency in the region was senseless as President Muhammadu Buhari was not privy to some of the plans. The Niger Delta Avengers has claimed responsibility for series of bombing of gas and oil pipelines in the Niger Delta region and has vowed to continue to do so until. Abbe who spoke at the public presentation of a book: “Home –School Partnership for School Effectiveness” warned the Niger Delta Avengers and other militant groups to stop destroying pipelines as it would have an adverse effect on the environment. The former minister said: “There is no programme that is forever. But, I think that the point of departure was the fact that after the demise of President Yar’Adua, the type continuity that would have taken place did not take place. But that is past now as President Buhari was not a party to that. “There are several aspects of the amnesty programme that were concluded. It was not just enough to send these young ones to institutions of higher learning, develop the manpower needs of the Niger Delta region. There were other projects that would have been taken on. Like the East West Road, it took a long time for it to be completed. The present government has taken on the East West rail way line. There was also the idea of constructing a coastal high way from Ekpe to Akwa Ibom State.” Meanwhile, Senator Joseph Kennedy N Waku who is a chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum challenged the Niger Delta to drink their oil and they would hold on to their agriculture. In an interview with Vanguard, Waku criticised militants in the Niger Delta region for blowing pipelines and trying to hold the government ransom.