Ex-Niger Delta militants accomplish pilot training targets in South Africa

Kingsley Kuku, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta

Ex-Niger Delta militants accomplish pilot training targets in South Africa
Collins Atohengbe, Pretoria

After just six months of training, seven of the 20 former Niger Delta militants sent to train as pilots at the African Union Aviation College in Mofonkeng, South Africa have successfully undertaken their solo and skill demonstration flights.

Commenting on the level of their skill, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku said the flight school scheme was just one aspect of the rehabilitation programme designed to give the ex-militants a new life, which would help raise their usefulness to themselves and the society.

He expressed satisfaction with the trainees for their accomplishments so far: “Seven were ready but because of availability of planes, two of them did their solo flights on their own –without support. They came back and landed as if they had been flying for a hundred years. I shed tears of joy because this is something so many people thought was not possible. So many people didn’t believe the rehabilitation was going to be successful.”

Benefits of the scheme

The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta affairs said the amnesty and rehabilitation programme had been of immense benefit: “If there is no peace, you cannot produce. When there was no peace, (oil) production fell to 700,000 barrels per day; today, production is at 2.5 million barrels per day, kidnapping has dropped, vandalisation of pipelines has dropped and investors are encouraged to come back to the Niger Delta.”

Mr Kuku, who spoke with VON Southern Africa Correspondent, Collins Atohengbe, recommended similar measures in addressing various forms of agitation in Nigeria: “An agitation is an agitation. There are issues attached to every agitation. It means a few people are not happy at something. It means people are disgruntled about something. Poverty is a problem, under-development is a problem……..So local governments, states, multinational corporations, non-governmental organisations and the international community must come in and train youths all over the country.”

He said other ex-militants were undergoing training in areas such as marine technology, welding and formal education in Asia and Europe.

Ekata