By Gbenga Nicholas 

The Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo State, has created an admission criteria for Niger Delta ex-militants, to enable them to enroll into the University without JAMB.

The pre-degree programme run by the institution will assist the federal government in skill acquisitions and vocational training for the ex-militants who are beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, the institution’s management revealed.

This was disclosed by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council of FUTA, Amb. (Dr.) Godknows Igali when he led the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Fuwape and other top officials of the institution on a courtesy visit to the Interim Administrator of Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd).

Federal government was also commended by the institution for its new focus to train, mentor and employ ex-agitators in order to sustain the existing peace in the Niger Delta region.

He explained that Col. Dikio’s pragmatic leadership was proof of his passion for the region and a testament to his commitment to peace, stability and development of the oil-rich Niger Delta.

“Your vision to train, employ and mentor beneficiaries will bring further development and economic prosperity to the region and the nation at large.

“In line with that, in FUTA we have the capacity to train ex-agitators to become agents of change that will reverse the narrative of a people dependent on stipends, become employers of labour and contribute largely to the economic growth of the region through our centre of entrepreneurship.

“We have a pre-degree programme, so they don’t have to go through the JAMB cycle.

“Our programme also recognizes JAMB, so we will be able to accommodate a lot of trainees into it.”

The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Joseph Fuwape, said that the institution had the capacity and facilities to support the PAP in terms of research, manpower development programmes, innovation and technology in data management, aquaculture, fish farming, agro-business and agropreneurship, among others.

Col. Dikio, who acknowledged the importance of technology in national development, in his response commended the management team of FUTA for the gesture and promised to set up a team to evaluate the offer and draw up a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

“Informal education was just as important as conventional education, the relevant vocational and business skills could be learnt and used to transform lives and the mindsets of ex-agitators,” he said.

However, in a statement on Saturday, the Special Adviser on Media to the Coordinator of the programme, Neotaobase Egbe noted that the institution offered the school’s entrepreneurship centres with globally recognized certifications for the training of the programme’s beneficiaries.