PAP Boss, Parleys Vocational Training Vendors

The Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Major-General Barry Tariye Ndiomu (rtd) on Monday met with representatives of registered PAP vendors, who have completed the six months training for the Programme.

The forum which held at the PAP conference room provided an opportunity for management of the Programme and the vendors to deliberate on issues of mutual interest.

The Presidential Amnesty boss expressed his appreciation to the vendors for doing a good job in effective building up of capacity and skills of delegates for employability.

This was even as he commended them for cooperating with the PAP on renegotiation of the terms of their contracts, saying it is a gesture which helped the Office in addressing several outstanding issues.

The Interim Administrator noted that the PAP was glad with the level of capacity displayed by the vendors in the completion of the project phase.

According to him, the Office will now focus on creative ways of resettling delegates through empowerment Programmes to promote and use the skills and knowledge acquired to add value to the socio-economic growth of the Niger Delta.

A Statement from the media aide to the Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Mr Freston Akpor quoted him as saying, the aim of this alliance is to train, empower, redeploy and exit the delegates from the Programme, which is the initial aim and objective of the PAP.

The statement read in parts:“I am in talks with several organizations like NEXIM about setting up a co-operative that will help promote and engage the delegates in their various fields of learning; something more sustainable that will outlive the PAP”.

In their separate remarks, all the vendors, numbering seven expressed gratitude to the PAP for the opportunity to enable them contribute towards developing human capacity in the Niger Delta region.

They also applauded the Interim Administrator and the management of PAP for the symbiotic relationship that existed throughout the duration of the six-month training programme.

This was just as the vendors called for a process to screen delegates for future training programmes as well as strengthening the existing monitoring and evaluation methods to reap the needed values from such capacity building efforts.