The Presidential Amnesty Programme has assured of its readiness to partner with the Bayelsa Medical University, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, to address the shortage of medical professionals in the Niger Delta region.
The Administrator of the PAP, Dennis Otuaro, stated this in Yenagoa, at the weekend, during a visit to the BMU.
He said one of the objectives of the programme was human capital development in the region.
Otuaro, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Igoniko Oduma, said the Amnesty Programme Office and the BMU would strengthen partnerships to train more students in critical areas in the health sector.
The statement said Otuaro and his team had earlier visited Igbinedion University and Benson Idahosa University in Edo State; Western Delta University, Oghara; Edwin Clark University, Kiagbodo, and the Michael and Cecelia Ibru University, Ughelli, all in Delta State, as part of his tour of tertiary educational institutions partnering with PAP.
During the visits, Otuaro interacted with the PAP scholarship students and the management of the institutions to get firsthand information towards improving service delivery.
The Amnesty Programme, which was established in 2009 to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate ex-agitators into the mainstream of society and expand educational opportunities for indigenes of impacted communities, is currently in the reintegration phase.
Otuaro noted that the Niger Delta is facing two major challenges in limited infrastructure and human capital development, and commended the BMU for being a success story of the PAP scholarship scheme and playing the role for which it was established by the Bayelsa State Government.
Otuaro said, “The Amnesty Programme under my watch will focus on developing the human capital in the Niger Delta.
“The Bayelsa Medical University is very vital at this time when we need more trained medical professionals to cater to the healthcare needs of our people and drive development in the Niger Delta region.”
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of BMU, Ebitimitula Etebu, congratulated the PAP Administrator on his well-deserved appointment by President Bola Tinubu and commended him for the decision to visit the institutions where scholarship students were studying.
Etebu, who noted that Otuaro’s actions demonstrated the vigour and dynamism he had brought to the programme, sought further collaborations between the university and the Amnesty Programme, especially in professional courses.
He appealed to the Amnesty Programme Office to consider creating a special scholarship scheme for the health sector, because of the great need in that area.
“I believe we should be able to take advantage of the Presidential Amnesty Programme to leave a lasting legacy for our people and impact them positively,” the VC said.
Otuaro later interacted with the PAP scholarship beneficiaries in the institution, led by their leader, Fawei Disebira, a 300-level Medicine and Surgery student.
He promised to respond promptly to their complaints which bordered on late payments of in-training allowance and lack of gadgets.
