The Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State, for the training of 200 beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme in the oil and gas sector.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Abuja, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, said it signposts the beginning of a landmark move by the Federal Government towards attaining greater heights.

“As far as the Presidential Amnesty Programme is concerned, signing this MOU is a clear path to enhancing the knowledge of our people and raising their lives so that they can walk tall and reach the heights of their potentials. Let us make the best of this situation; so that our people will always remember us for good while being grateful to everyone, including the Federal Government that has not set us aside. With time, we will disabuse the minds of our people so that they will know what they are living for”, Dokubo said.

He urged Niger Delta people, particularly the youth to fully embrace the Federal Government’s developmental programmes, while assuring that the government will continue to maintain lasting peace in the Niger Delta, empower its youths and provide the requisite condition for the people live decently, besides giving the youth educational certificates.

Head, Vocational Training at the Amnesty Office, Barrister Amazuo Berepreboga, explained that the MOU will ensure the full training of 200 students at PTI in specialised fields in the oil and gas industry, such as oil and gas drilling, instrumentation, mechanical technology, electrical technology and process technology.

In his remarks, the Principal and Chief Executive of PTI, Professor Sunny Iyuke, commended Dokubo and President Muhammadu Buhari for Federal Government’s support. “I thank my fellow Professor and the Amnesty Office for this gesture. I came to PTI with the conviction that this is the right job I should be doing. This is the kind of things I am looking for my students, to make me happy and satisfied.”

Iyuke, who bemoaned the high level of joblessness among Niger Delta youths, expressed hope that the MOU will not only keep them away from crime but also engage them gainfully and improve their living standards.

He added that the MOU will also push PTI students to improvement in practical application, especially knowledge of design of modular refineries, which has already paved the way for its legalization, resulting to an increase in establishment of modular refineries and flow stations in Nigeria.