Don’t sell empowerment materials, FG begs Niger Deltans

The Federal Government has urged beneficiaries of its empowerment programme in the Niger Delta not to sell the materials given to them but put them to productive usage that will make them self-reliant.

The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Prof. Charles Dokubo, gave the advice on Friday during the distribution of starter packs to artisans in the region.

According to a statement on Sunday, the distributed items include welding machines, tailoring machines, deep freezers and generators.

The beneficiaries were reportedly drawn from various crises-impacted communities in Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Cross Rivers, Imo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Abia states.

Dokubo described the gesture as proof of President Muhammadu Buhari’s love for the Niger Delta and urged the people to support his second term bid.

He said, “This is a special empowerment for people who are not among the 30,000 beneficiaries captured in the Presidential Amnesty Programme; it is meant for people in crises-impacted communities in the Niger Delta. It is to demonstrate that the amnesty programme is for all the people of the Niger Delta.

“Having served in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in the course of his military career, President Muhammadu Buhari is conversant with the unpleasant situation in the Niger Delta and he is committed to turning around the narrative.

“President Buhari loves you and he will ensure that the Niger Delta is stabilised and gets its right place in the country, especially in terms of infrastructural development.”