Tinubu committed to closing Niger Delta human capital gap – Otuaro

From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr Dennis Brutu Otuaro, has said President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to close the human capital development gap in the Niger Delta are on course, citing more than 9,000 scholarship beneficiaries studying in Nigeria and abroad.

Otuaro spoke while addressing another batch of 35 overseas postgraduate scholarship beneficiaries who departed Nigeria on Monday for universities in England and Scotland.

He said Tinubu had backed the programme’s expansion of access to higher education for Niger Delta youths as part of efforts to safeguard the region’s future.

“The deliberate effort to reduce the human capital development gap in the Niger Delta is on course under President Bola Tinubu, and he is resolutely committed to it,” he said.

“This is reflected by the over 9,000 scholarship beneficiaries we have deployed within and outside the country because of the President’s favourable disposition to expansion of educational sponsorships and other initiatives of the programme.”

The beneficiaries’ fields of study include forensic audit, construction engineering management, data science analytics, law, software engineering, oil and gas engineering, cyber security, global public health and fintech analytics.

The latest batch is part of the 150 overseas postgraduate scholarship beneficiaries who participated in a pre-departure orientation organised in August. Two earlier batches of 54 and 31 students had departed for the United Kingdom.

Otuaro said the programme had provided 243 overseas scholarships this year and thanked Tinubu for prioritising the region under his Renewed Hope Agenda.

He urged the scholars to focus on their studies, pursue excellence and avoid activities that could jeopardise their stay or academic progress abroad.

“You are expected to focus on your studies because that is the primary purpose of your academic journey overseas. Gird yourself, go for excellence, and don’t engage in activities that will endanger you and your studies,” he said.

Otuaro urged them to keep the future of the Niger Delta and Nigeria in mind, saying they would be expected to contribute to sustainable peace, stability, community development and nation-building.

He also called on people of the Niger Delta to support Tinubu’s re-election next year, arguing that a second term would sustain scholarship opportunities and other initiatives for the region.

The PAP administrator thanked the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, for supervising the programme and commended stakeholders for their contributions to peace and security in the Niger Delta.

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