….Eradiri urges stakeholders to re-elect President for second term
Two scholarship beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Joy Jonny and Prince-Timothy Wokoma, have graduated with distinctions and cash awards from British universities, highlighting the impact of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s investment in education and human capital development in the Niger Delta.
Jonny won the George and Lilian Adam Smith Prize at the University of Aberdeen, alongside a £500 cash award for obtaining the highest dissertation mark.
In a letter dated October 28, 2026, the Head of the School of Social Sciences, Prof. Joanne McEvoy, congratulated Jonny on her outstanding academic performance.
The letter stated: “I am delighted to be able to confirm that your achievement is to be recognised through the award of the George and Lilian Adam Smith Prize. The prize of £500 is awarded to the student with the highest dissertation mark”.
Wokoma, on his part, graduated as the best overall student in the Agriculture and Environmental Science programme and received a £100 award from his university.
Congratulating him, the institution said in a letter: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the award, which recognises your hard work and commitment to your studies. The award is only made if there is a performance of sufficient merit, so you have done an excellent job. Well done!”
Reacting to the achievements, the Media Director of the Tinubu Support Group (TSG), Bayelsa State chapter, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, described them as evidence of the dividends of the Tinubu administration’s deliberate investment in the Niger Delta through the PAP.
Eradiri, a former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, said available statistics showed that the PAP had sponsored more than 9,000 Niger Delta scholarship beneficiaries within and outside Nigeria under Tinubu.
He added that the programme had produced more than 111 master’s and doctoral graduates, alongside numerous first-class and second-class honours graduates under the administration.
Eradiri commended the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Brutu Otuaro, for leveraging Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to develop an educational template focused on closing the human capital development gap in the Niger Delta.
He said Otuaro had remained focused and committed to leading a purpose-driven PAP, free from distractions, contract controversies and allegations of fund mismanagement.
According to him, Tinubu’s commitment to releasing funds required for the programme’s activities has helped eliminate protests that previously characterised the scheme’s operations.
He said: “We commend Otuaro for reforming PAP and redirecting the programme’s focus on closing the human capital needs of the Niger Delta. PAP under Tinubu has produced a critical mass of employable Niger Delta indigenes.
“Tinubu inherited PAP at a time there was a debate to scrap the programme because of its past failures. But the President, following the love he has for the Niger Delta, chose to sustain and reform it to deliver development and prosperity to the region.
“With the feat already attained by PAP, it is crystal clear that President Tinubu has the best interest of the Niger Delta at heart. He has demonstrated commitment and sincerity in satisfying one of the critical needs of the Niger Delta, which is human capital development”.
Eradiri said the achievements of the programme made Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 imperative, arguing that the President had demonstrated a clear commitment to the sustainable development of the region.
He urged Niger Delta stakeholders to reject candidates making what he described as unrealistic promises and mobilise support for Tinubu’s second term.
“The examples of Joy and Wokoma are evidence that President Tinubu’s massive investments in the Niger Delta education through the PAP is yielding expected benefits.
“He has been tested and trusted in the Niger Delta. He has a template for the sustainable development of our region. This is no time to experiment other candidates, who are making bogus and unrealistic claims. It is time for all stakeholders to mobilise massively for Tinubu’s reelection to enable him consolidate on the gains in the Niger Delta”.