The Ijaw Youth Council
Worldwide, IYC, has said the increase in budget for the Niger Delta
Presidential Amnesty Programme, from N20bn to N65bn as contained in the 2017
budget, will not be enough to douse crisis in the region. The council’s
spokesman, Eric Omare, who urged people in the region not to celebrate the
increase, described the increase as exploitative as it would only enable the
Federal Government meet its targeted daily output of oil from the region. He
argued that attention should rather be on how much was budgeted and released to
the Niger Delta Development Commission, the Niger Delta Ministry and the
Federal Ministry of Works to carry out developmental projects in the oil-rich
coastal areas.
