My most embarrassing moment as chairman of Niger Delta Amnesty Committee —Kingsley Kuku

 He who feels it knows it. This saying would seem to apply to Hon. Kingsley Kuku, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Amnesty. He told select journalists, including VINCENT AKANMODE, the strides the amnesty programme, particularly the re-integration phase, has recorded and the challenges he faces on a daily basis with regard to managing the ex-agitators in a way that they will conform with the plans of the Federal Government concerning them. He also reacts to the fresh crave for amnesty by two prominent leaders of agitators in the region, Alhaji Dokuboh Asari and John Togo

Hon.Kingsley Kuku,Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta & Chairman Presidential Committee on Amnesty

What would you say are the major challenges you face as the Chairman of the Committee on the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme?
Talking about challenges, the job has not been easy. it is not easy to bring up the kind of brothers and sisters we are handling in this programme. We are talking about people with a peculiar kind of background. Re-integrating them could be very difficult. It is an enormous responsibility. You go to a camp like Obubra and somebody, an adult, tells you he wants to be a mechanic. You agree with him, but the same man calls you two months later and says: ‘At the time I told you I wanted to be a mechanic, something or somebody influenced me to say so. Now, I no longer want to be a mechanic, I want to go to school.’ Although you have fully processed him for mechanic, you don’t have to be angry. You need to go back to process him again. 
Sometimes, in the process of reprocessing him, you want to reach him through the number with which he had called you, but you can’t reach him again. You try for two months but you cannot reach him. Then he calls you after three months and accuses you of not getting back to him after your initial discussion. We keep asking them why they use numbers that are not theirs. The issue of trust is still there. People give fake information about the programme, even among themselves. There have been situations where trainees would call themselves with strange numbers to come for passport processing in Lagos. And a young man will leave Port-Harcourt or Arugbo to come to Lagos. And when he calls the same number and says he is waiting at the Immigration office, the number goes off forever. 
As usual, they would call me and say ‘SA (Special Adviser), your people called me to Lagos for passport procurement, but I got here and I can’t get the number again. I am stranded.’ I will have to look for somebody in Lagos who can handle the situation. 
So, for me, the phase of re-integration is even more difficult than the disarmament phase. Imagine we left here for Florida with 28 people; the first set of trainees to be moved to America. We got there only for six of them to be deported back. And I did it on my own. And I was rejoicing that I got them back, because they got to the US and were all settled down. Then six of them came up to tell us, ‘We are now here. The embassy told us we would be doing Marine Medicine. But for us, we only used it as an opportunity to come to the US. If it is not Marine Captain, we are not ready to do any course here.’ Marine Captain? Have you ever seen a school offering Marine Captain as a course? And he will tell you, ‘Well, don’t worry. In my village, all the big ships that pass through our rivers, I used to pilot them. So, if it is not Marine Captain, I’m not ready to do anything here.’ 
The US to which I sought for visa for four years without luck, somebody would get it on the platform of an instrument of the Federal Government and then he gets there and say he would not do any course but Marine Captain? We brought them back home. And because I did not know their intent, I see them as people who would need another round of reformation training. When we got to the airport, what I did was simple. I passed them through Immigration and told the security agencies to pick up their passports from them. Because I don’t want to hear that some of them have found their ways back to the US. We got to Abuja and I spoke to my SA Media to write to the US Ambassador that six of the people we took to Florida had returned and that he could cancel their visa. The American embassy was very glad about it. I am not sure they had seen that kind of thing before. These are the kind of things we face every day, and it is quite challenging.
What is your reaction to Alahaji Dokubo Asari’s decision to embrace the amnesty programme now?
Let me first say that my office has not been informed about my friend and comrade’s acceptance of amnesty. Alhaji Asari Dokuboh is my personal friend. He had been in the struggle of the people of the Niger Delta and had opposed the concept of amnesty. However, I also know that Alhaji Asari Dokuboh believes that the process of amnesty can be a vehicle for changing the lives of our youths. He has not formally informed our office and I have not been directed or informed by any of my superiors in government about his acceptance of amnesty. 
Be that as it may, the only human being in this country who has the power to extend, grant or refuse the acceptance of amnesty for anybody or any group is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I do not have that power. The number of ex-agitators is 26, 358. Those who accepted amnesty in the first phase were 20,192, while another 6,166 accepted amnesty in the second phase and were included in the programme. That makes a total of 26, 358. This is the number we have within the amnesty programme and this is the number of ex-agitators we deal with. 
Like I have said several times, this does not mean that there are no other aggrieved persons in the Niger Delta. It does not in any way mean that some persons who are not part of this number are not stakeholders in the Niger Delta issue. There are so many individuals and groups of persons who still believe that they have the right to whatever issue people have raised. And I have said it several times that for me, as Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, my office is open to any form of engagement with anybody or group of persons who are known. If the group is not known, it is not one that can be engaged, no matter the person presenting himself on the platform of that group. But if any known group of people come forward and say they are Niger Delta freedom fighters, rescuers or emancipators, I’m ready to exercise my mandate, as empowered by Mr. President, to engage such people and make recommendations to Mr. President. 
I am not saying this as if I am talking for Mr. President. That can be done only by the spokesman of Mr. President himself, Imma Niboro. But to make my work smooth within the confines of my mandate as the SA and Chairman of the Post-Amnesty Programme, I will engage any group that needs to be engaged for the purpose of ensuring lasting peace in the Niger Delta. Asari’s acceptance of amnesty, if true, can only be accepted by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And when Mr. President so accepts, through the proper channels of communication, our office will definitely be notified of whatever position Mr. President takes on that matter. 
There are reports by some newspapers that one of the leaders of the ex-agitators is dead. But if he is not, will he be accepted back into the Amnesty programme now that he has signified his intention to embrace it again?
Again, I want to say that John Togo is my brother. There is a way I relate with people. John Togo was not chased out of this programme. He was a part of the programme ab initio. He participated in the programmes. The boys from his own camp also went to Obubra. Most of them went through the demobilisation phase, having passed through the disarmament phase. Some of his boys, I am sure, are also benefitting from the re-integration programme. Monthly payments of allowances were made to his camp. But for whatever reason, some of which he has stated in national newspapers, saying that he decided to go back into the creeks because, as far as he was concerned, the leaders were not taken care of within the confines of the Amnesty Programme implementation. He believed that the Federal Government had not addressed issues like the development of the Niger Delta and the empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta. 
I engaged John Togo on several occasions. I told him, ‘My brother, you have accepted amnesty and came out. You have an opportunity to join all the voices in the Niger Delta and Nigeria as a country to begin to engage government about the other issues beyond amnesty, which whoever has an agitating mind is talking about. It cannot pay you to go back into the creeks to bear arms. Today, the JTF (Joint Task Force) and John Togo are actually in a running battle. Since the day we heard about the attack between John Togo and the JTF, nobody has been able to ascertain the whereabouts of John Togo. As far as I am concerned, as the Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of the Amnesty Programme, I do need to know where John Togo is. So, in the past few days, I have made very severe efforts to know his whereabouts, how healthy or unhealthy he is, but, of course, there has been no faint information. 
But one of the managers of the amnesty programme was reported as saying that he was being harboured at the Government House in Yenagoa...
You know that the Niger Delta is a factory of rumour, where people tell terrible stories. Some have said John Togo is alive. Others say he is dead. Some others say he is at so and so place. You must have seen the ripples generated by a statement from somebody who is also a manager of the activities at the demobilisation camp at Obubra. Mr. Ekpein Appah made a very terrible statement, which, as far as we are concerned, is the most severe embarrassment the amnesty programme has faced ever since it commenced; that he was sure that John Togo was in the Government House in Bayelsa. 
We learnt the man has been removed on account of the statement. Are there chances that he will be pardoned soon?
The John Togo issue, to me, is not as sensitive as the general question of the Niger Delta. You are a main camp manager and there are rules and ethics in every organisation. A manager among nothing less than 12 managers in a camp cannot rise in a matter like this to say without basic evidence and without passing through the appropriate channel, that John Togo, being wanted by the JTF and the Federal Government of Nigeria, was being harboured in the Government House in Bayelsa. If John Togo is in the Government House, Bayelsa, for instance, and the Amnesty Proigramme ought to inform anybody, the first person in this country that must hear this is Mr. President. And the person to inform Mr. President is my humble self by privilege and not one of the 12 or 24 managers we have in the camp. There is a camp commandant in the camp. So, it breached ethics and regulations. 
If it was a privileged information he had, he ought to pass it through the camp commandant and the SA would hear it. If I hear this kind of sensitive information, all I need to do is to reconfirm from him. If he tells me that with all confidence and evidence, I think I will need to brief the National Security Adviser. From there, we will meet with Mr. President and think about how to handle it. You don’t need to make it look like there is a battle between you and the Government House in Bayelsa. 
Governor Timipre Sylva is one of the stakeholders in the Niger Delta. Even in terms of the Amnesty Programme, he was one of the governors who took practical steps to bring about disarmament in the region. You can’t disclaim that fact. When he set up a Peace Committe and established the Peace House, that was the process that led to disarmament in Bayelsa State. And they celebrated peace in Bayels State at that time. That brought out Boyloaf, Ogunbos, Africa and everybody. I was part of that committee, being the National Secretary of the Presidential Committe on Peace and Conflict Resolution at that time. We went to celebrate that moment of peace in Bayelsa. So Governor Sylva is one of the critical people who have made wonderful contributions towards peace and security in the Niger Delta.
Besides, If you have a cause to say this kind of thing anywhere, the proper channel should be followed. Maybe somebody informed him and he felt he was sure of what he was saying. But he should have passed it through the right channel in the organisation. He cannot make himself the SA when I’m the SA. As far as I know, I am the SA in this programme and that sensitive information that should have helped government if it was true. Passing it in that manner amounted to insubordination. He has been fired and he remains fired until we have cause to see if it is possible at all to do a review. And I don’t see that happening in the nearest future. 
But let me reiterate the fact that accepting John Togo back into the amnesty is also not my prerogative. It is the prerogative of Mr President. I have seen their statement, saying that they have surrendered; that the JTF has won the battle in the creeks and that they are ready to surrender their arms through the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, being my privileged self. Mr. President has seen all that, but they never contacted me. If they contact me and I get the appropriate instruction to receive any form of arms from John Togo’s team, I will. But if they don’t, I can’t do that. He was accepted into the Amnesty Programme before, now he has to be re-accepted. If the instruction comes from Mr. President, i will.
How many trainees do you have in the Amnesty Programme?
First, I want to put you on notice that we have been handling 20,192. The 6,166 second phase amnesty trainees have not even been to the demobilization camp. So, we are not going to talk about that now. The 6,166 are waiting for the 20,192 to pass through Calabar before we can come to them. So, out of the 20,192, we have 5,000 of them already placed in training centres and skill acquisition centres within Nigeria. We have another 2,618 who have commenced training in reputable institutioins and centres outside the country. Of this number, 476 have since resumed vocational training in South Africa and Ghana. In Ghana, there are 207 of them. They were 212, but when I visited Ghana, I decided to deport five of them who decided to heckle an hotel attendant in Takoradi. They are back and will have to undergo another round of reformation. 
It shows that this is a continuous programme. Since it is the first programme of its kind in Nigeria, we are going to have a few problems as we go on with it. Remember that this kind of programme took place in Sierra Leone and there were lots of problems which resulted in bloodbath on many occasions. It took the country and the US so many years to pass through this stage. In Liberia and Rwanda, it was the same thing. In Sudan, the programme is still on. Even in spite of independence votes, there are still attacks in Southern Sudan. So, you would see that Nigeria is a very lucky country, being blessed by God and being put together for a purpose for the black world. 
In the Niger Delta, the programme has not experienced any form of bloodbath. John Togo’s case is an isolated case, and you can see that it has been handled by the Federal Government and the team has even willingly come out to say they have seen that they have lost this battle and they want to be back in the amnesty programme. There is willingness and an understanding by them, maybe a real understanding by them, to say that the amnesty programme is on course and they want to be back into it. If Mr. President says we should accept them back, we have no option but to do so. 
We have 74 of this number, who have resumed formal education at Lynton University College in Malaysia. We also have 65 of them who have commenced formal university education at the Friendship University in Moscow, Russia. On Saturday March 26, 2011, 20 amnesty programme trainees travelled to South Africa where they are currently being trained in one of the best aviation colleges in the world to become helicopter pilots as well as aeronautic engineers. The 20 of them are doing so well there. It is not easy to pass through the aviation programme anywhere in the world. The exams are done online, so nobody can help anybody. And if you like, fly a plane from here to any part of the world, you are just flying for nothing, and the person who has sent you there is just wasting money unless you pass the exams. You will never be certificated if you don’t. They gave me their word when I visited them, that they will never disappoint me. And I am happy to announce to you that 19 out of the 20 have passed the two exams. And the only one that has not passed, I have told them I don’t want him back in this country until he passes the exam. He is going to take his next exam soon, and I am praying for him to succeed. 
A lady among them almost gave up after failing three times, saying she could not pass the second exam. I called her on the phone and told her that she could make it. To my greatest joy, she scored 82 per cent. I have just been informed also that 10 of the ex-agitators have had their joint flights (guarded flights) with experienced pilots. The day they would have their solo flights, I would love to witness it.
I also want to add that we dispatched 38 trainees to the US, where they have commenced six months training in Marine Mechanic in Florida. We are set to send another 24 to the US with the perfect cooperation of the US Embassy in Nigeria, to undergo training in oil and gas drilling technology. Another 2,618 are scheduled to commence training in reputable institutions outside the country.
By your own assessment, would you say the Amnesty Programme has been successful?
I would say yes, because the evidence is there. You would remember that from 2007 to 2009, oil production fell to 700,000 barrels per day. If amnesty had not been proclaimed by June 25, 2009 leading to now, oil production would not have been recording 2.3 million barrels of crude oil production per day as we are doing now. So, it has risen from 700,000, not to one million barrel, but to 2.3 million barrels per day and sometimes beyond 2.3 million barrels. It is evidence that the Amnesty Programme has succeeded. It has brought about stability, peace and economic prosperity for Nigeria. 
However, like I have said several times, I am not one of any group of actors who will pretend that amnesty seems to be the perfect answer to the long lasting agitation of the people of the Niger Delta. But it is a way of addressing a very fundamental aspect of the Niger Delta problems. The Niger Delta has a lot of issues. The one we are handling is the human one. It is the fabric of the agitation that has to do with those who bore arms at a time. Having spoken to them, they have agreed to drop their arms and get themselves properly re-integrated into the civil society. Even while we are doing that, they are also reminding us that it is not all about dropping arms and getting rehabilitated and re-integrated into the society, but that we should not forget the issues that made them to carry arms in the first place. As a result of this, we have been holding a lot of conferences and workshops. 
Other agencies of government are also handling different parts of the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta ministry is also handling non-militant youths’ rehabilitation. They are doing training for non-militant youths. The Ministry of Environment is also looking at areas of environmental remedies. Don’t be surprised that one day, Mr. President will be talking about cleaning the Niger Delta river environment. There could be a clean-up of the entire river environment. We might return to our usual aquatic life, having passed through the training. That will commence from the Ministry of Environment. So many agencies and parastatals of government are handling various parts of the Amnesty Programme. So, when we talk about Presidential Committee on Amnesty, there is a general programme handling the Niger Delta issues. If you go to the office of our father and uncle, Dr Emmanuel Egboga, he handles the rights and privileges of communities, as well as equity and oil and gas issues. Those are issues that do not concern our office. But he is also a part of the general committee on amnesty.