The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme(PAP), Prof. Charles Quaker Dokubo has charged the media to work in synergy with the Presidential Amnesty Office to create awareness of the human development programmes the office is undertaking in the Niger Delta region.
Prof. Dokubo who gave the charge while speaking at the Presidential Amnesty Office quarterly media forum in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, said the media was a veritable tool to bring the activities of the office to the doorsteps of the ordinary citizens in the region.
The Coordinator who was represented by the Senior Re-integration officer, PAP, Rivers State Liaison Office, Miss Tehilla Ibiye Alalibo said the idea to establish the Amnesty office in Port Harcourt was to encourage participation at the grassroots level.
He pointed out that the office was mindful of the fact that Abuja was far away from the people of the region and transacting business with the Abuja office was a privilege of a few who could afford the cost.
He stated that with the Presidential Amnesty operational base in Port Harcourt, the Amnesty office would expect mass participation in the programmes.
He urged the media to ensure that the attitude, feelings, opinions and perception of the grassroots are brought to the public glare to enable technocrats in the Amnesty office synthesise them as inputs in improving the quality of services rendered to the beneficiaries.
In his own remarks, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council, Mr Stanley Job, commended the Presidential Amnesty Programme for their sincerity of purpose in paying stipends to ex-agitators and wondered what could have become the state of security if the ex-agitators were not paid.
He further commended the Amnesty office for organising the Presidential Amnesty office quarterly media forum in Port Harcourt, stating that such would help the relationship between the media and the Presidential Amnesty office.
He called for regular organisation of the forum.
Earlier, the organiser of the forum, MCI partners Limited led by Maureen Ideozu, stated that the quarterly media forum was organised to bring the Amnesty office close to the beneficiaries of the Amnesty Programme who reside in the Niger Delta using the media.
She also said that the forum would help create awareness of the programmes of the Amnesty office including creating a platform for constructive engagement with the media as well as gauge public perception of the impact of the programme.
Participants were drawn from the print and electronic media operating in the nine Niger Delta states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers.
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