The Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Dr Dennis Brutu Otuaro, has charged the offshore scholarship beneficiaries of the programme to be deliberate about excellence in their studies.
Otuaro said that those selected for the programme have no option than to appreciate the President Bola Tinubu administration’s goodwill by excelling academically to justify the sacrifice made for them by the government.
Otuaro spoke as another group of 31 offshore post-graduate scholarship beneficiaries of the PAP, on Friday, departed Nigeria for the United Kingdom for studies in various universities.
The scholars, who took off from Abuja and arrived in London, were among the 150 beneficiaries who participated in a pre-departure briefing organised in August following their deployment by Otuaro.
They were preceded by a batch of 54 who left the country last week.
They will pursue programmes in forensic audit, construction engineering management, data science analytics, law, software engineering, oil and gas engineering, cyber security, global public health, fintech analytics, among others.
Dr Otuaro, who has deployed a total of 243 overseas post-graduate scholarships this year, urged the students to strive for excellence and conduct themselves responsibly.
He expressed the hope that the Niger Delta and indeed Nigeria would harvest hugely from the investment in the education of the region’s youths in the near future.
According to him, education is a crucial tool to drive sustainable peace and stability, development and socio-economic growth in the region and the country.
“The huge benefits of the investment in the Niger Delta youths’ education will be felt in the years to come.
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“Apart from closing the human capital development gap, we are building a community of intellectuals that will be the light of our region in the interest of peace, stability and development of communities in the country”, Dr Otuaro said.
He expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for embracing the PAP and giving unquantifiable support to the implementation of initiatives to realize its mandate.
The PAP boss highlighted that the Niger Delta is benefiting from President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, stressing that “he has demonstrated genuine commitment to the development of our region and the youths’ education.”
He also commended the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, for his unwavering support and vital input at all times.
While also thanking PAP stakeholders for their cooperation and encouragement, Dr Otuaro reiterated his commitment to sustainable peace, stability and development of the Niger Delta.