By Francis Onoiribholo – Bureau Chief, Benin
It is with all sense of responsibility that one can claim that Hon. Kuku through the unalloyed support of the government of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and his able assistants have since achieved 100 percent of the first and second mandates disarmament and demobilization. The rehabilitation mandate is almost nearly completed. The demobilization mandate which was carried out in Obubra in Cross River State entailed biometric documentation, wellness check, non-violence transformational training involving series of counseling and career classification for the ex-agitators. This phase or mandate was concluded in December 2011.
One of his cherished guiding principles is that, “what makes the difference between the rich and the poor nations of the world is the quality of the people and not just the resources buried under the ground or water because it is the people that will explore the resources to usefulness and utility levels.” No wonder he is vigorously pursuing the third mandate which is reintegration through education formal and informal and acquisition of skill. The Amnesty Office under this extraordinary personality has placed over 19,000 demobilized ex-agitators in either formal education or skill acquisition centres both within and outside the country. Over 10,000 Amnesty Programmes delegates have completed their training and a good number of them are now gainfully employed.
Hon. Kingsley Kuku a man of the people, a fearless human right defender, a bridge builder, a beacon of hope for the defenseless people, a problem solver, an achiever without excuses, the gift of God to Niger Delta people in particular and our generation as a whole who academically and richly dissertated the topic “Evaluation of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Niger Delta Militants under Nigeria Amnesty Programme” has started to harvest the fruits of his tireless labour and this is just the beginning.
In his response at the event, the humble Hon. Kuku appealed to striking lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Unions of Universities (ASUU) to save the future of the youths and the country by immediately bringing their protracted strike to an end.
Kuku, who doubles as the Chairman of Presidential Amnesty Programme, spoke at the main auditorium of the Igbinedion University in Okada, Edo State after the Chancellor and Visitor of the school, Sir Gabriel Igbinedion conferred him with the university’s honorary degree of Doctor of Political Science in a glittering ceremony that also saw the award of Doctor of Science in Engineering given to Rev. Matthew Okpebholo and the formal graduation of of Gombe State governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo as Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Accounting.
Kuku said much as he attached importance to the degree and much as he respected Igbinedion University as Nigeria’s foremost private university, he thought about not receiving the award when he was told, an action he said was done in respect of Nigerian students who have been languishing at home instead of studying in schools for no problem that they caused. He added that he was as affected as the students who have been at home because the Presidential Amnesty Programme office was sponsoring not less than 430 students for different studies in Igbinedion University alone, the school from which he obtained his second degree. “I had my second degree from this institution myself. So, today, I dedicate this award to the mass of the Nigerian students who have been at home as a result of strike by ASUU members. I would not have accepted this award at this time as a public servant, if not for the respect I have for Chief Igbinedion. I would have expected it to come when students are in session, but the danger of losing this award is too great to comprehend.”
Kuku’s appeal to ASUU also received the support of the Pro-Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Prof. David Awanbor, who lamented the untimely death of Professor Festus Iyayi in an accident last month and debunked the insinuation that operators of private universities were encouraging ASUU to continue their prolonged strike over welfare issues.
Hon. Kuku’s close associates, including Mr. Dan Ekpebide and Dan Alabra, who heads media affairs of the amnesty progamme, were on hand to savour the beautiful moments with their friend and boss and used the opportunity to also describe him as an icon of peace not only for the Niger Delta people but Nigeria as a nation.
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