Col. Milland Dikio (rtd) has been appointed as the Interim Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme.
His appointment has been greeted with different sighs of relief by Niger-Deltans at home and in the diaspora. Niger Delta Ethnic Groups, Youth leaders, Councils and other stakeholders across the oil rich region have declared their supports and unwavering agreement with President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to appoint an Mbiama In Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State born man as the Coordinator of the region’s empowerment scheme.
They have described the appointment of Milland Dikio, a credible and trustworthy Niger-Deltan, as an indication that the Presidential Amnesty Programme would not be scrapped by the President.
The Presidential Amnesty Programme was born on Thursday, July 11, 2009 with the aim to develop the region, which is the sole contributor to the National cake. Back then, a proclamation of amnesty for Niger Delta militants who had engaged in the armed struggle for a better deal in the nation’s oil gains. In granting unconditional amnesty for the agitators, the late Yar’Adua opened a window for a period of 60 days for the agitators to lay down their arms in exchange for amnesty as a step towards redressing the adverse security situation in the oil rich Niger Delta region which had almost brought the nation’s economy to its knees. The measure was also aimed at stabilizing, consolidating and maintaining security in the region as a prerequisite for promoting economic development.
Stakeholders in the region believe the appointment has laid to rest the speculations going round that the Amnesty programme was going to be scrapped by the Federal Government.
Col. Dikio’s appointment became necessary following allegations levelled against Prof. Charles Dokubo, the erstwhile Coordinator, PAP, from different quarters. It is quite sad, that those appointed to develop the region, mismanage the resources accruable to the region thereby leaving the region in a palpable stage of abject penury. However, it is believed that Col. Dikio would take the development of the region seriously and work towards actualizing the aims of his appointment.
With an unshrouded and untainted 27-year record in the service of the Nigerian Army, where he rose through the ranks to earn the prestigious rank of a Colonel, Dikio was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant effective Jan 03, 1977. He is a seasoned professional who held command, diplomatic, staff and teaching appointments. He was decorated with ECOMOG, OAU and UN Peacekeeping medals. His conflict resolution credentials were honed and tested during his numerous field engagements and policy advisory roles at both local and international levels. His flair for languages enables him to communicate effectively in whatever environment he is deployed.
After his retirement in 2004, he was noted for his high standard of discipline, excellence and integrity. He was recalled as a Directing Staff Apr 1997 – Apr 1999 to teach at both the Junior and Senior Divisions and earned the coveted psc+ award. He attended African Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS), National Defence University, Washington DC 1st Sub-Regional Senior Leadership Seminar on Preventing Conflict in West Africa, Accra Ghana Aug 20-24,2001 and Exercise Combined Endeavor, US European Command (EUCOM), Ramstein Germany May 16-24,2001.
He was a Resource Expert – Terrorism Curriculum Review Seminar, ACSS Washington DC, Dec 03-07,2001 and Participant – The Role of Sub-Regional Organizations in the Prediction and Prevention of Conflict, French War College Paris France May 15-June 15, 2002. His appointments include Instructor NDA, Staff officer Administration, Headquarters 21 Armoured Brigade, General Staff Officer Internal Security, Army Headquarters and Military Assistant to The Chief of Training, Operations and Plans, Defence Headquarters.
By dint of hard-work, discipline and integrity, Dikio was an accredited member of ECOWAS team in the International Observers Group that monitored the Mar 09-11,2003 Zimbabwe Presidential Election. ACSS also appointed Dixon as a Senior Rapporteur for the West African Ministerial Symposium it conducted in Dakar Senegal July 22-23,2003 and was a lead presenter at the AU-ECOWAS-G8 Countries Clearing House Meeting on Peacekeeping in Africa at the State Department Washington DC October 07-08, 2004.
Years on, the Presidential Amnesty Programme had been headed by the Office of the Special Adviser on Niger-Delta Affairs. The Programme has continued to put smiles on the faces of those who were in the frontline of the Niger-Delta struggles and ex-militants. Prior to the proclamation of amnesty when guns boomed in the creeks of the Niger Delta, Nigeria lost over one million barrels of crude oil per day, estimated to be about N8.7 billion [$58m] as at May 2009. This followed a drastic reduction of the daily crude oil production figure from 2.2 million bpd to an abysmal 700,000 bpd when the Niger Delta insurgency reached a boiling point in January 2009. The cut in oil production had earlier robbed the country of over $20 billion in 2008, just as the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas [NLNG] reportedly lost over $2 billion in 2009. The toll was not limited to the economy as over 1000 lives were said to have been lost in 2008 alone, while 128 persons were allegedly kidnapped within one year [January 2008 to January 2009].
As the crises raged, production and construction firms which were working in the area including Wilbros, Michelin, Julius Berger, as well as small and medium scale enterprises [SMEs] laid off their workers in the Niger Delta and pulled out of the region, a situation that led to the stalling of the East-West Road project for over two years. These had disastrous consequences on the nation and its citizens as several other multinational companies relocated not only from the area but also from Nigeria. The country lost billions of Naira that would have accrued from oil revenue to the Federation Account, even as oil and gas companies which remained in the region with a resolve to weather the storm were compelled to cough out a whopping $3 billion annually to secure their facilities and installations, as critical infrastructure, especially pipelines, became targets of serial attack. Again, this propelled the slamming of an outrageous $90 million p.a. premium Marine War Risk Insurance for cargo into Nigeria.
Pursuant to its mandate, the Presidential Amnesty Programme entered the next phase of demobilization via engagement of the ex-agitators in a non-violence transformation training geared towards erasing their belief in violence and offering them nonviolence as a veritable alternative to achieving development and progress in the Niger Delta. The ex-agitators are currently in various stages of reintegration.
Remarkably, women were also involved in the process, with 822 of them participating in the Amnesty Programme. Interestingly, some of the women were at the demobilization camp with their children, just as there were a few child births during their participation in camp. But their attendance of the transformation camp was restricted to batches 1, 11 and 12, to allow for the kind of special attention required of their gender.
After retirement, Col. Dikio emerged the CEO Consul Consultants Limited, where he was at various times the Security Consultant to the Federal Inland Revenue Service and ECOWAS Executive Commission. The Center for Development and Democracy contracted him to produce the documents and organize workshops aimed at operationalizing ECOWAS Mechanism on Peace and Security. He is currently a Real Estate Investor at 3 Strands Group LLC and Security Consult at Madiba Inc LLC in the USA.
A proactive Niger-Delta man, such as Col. Milland Dikio who also attended Baptist High School, Port Harcourt (1971-1975) and was admitted into Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) 21st Regular Combatant Course in 1977 is a much needed solution the region has craved for these years.
He commanded the Nigerian Contingent of Military and Police UN Observers in Angola. As Commanding Officer NIBATT 37 ECOMOG, Sierra Leone he was responsible for securing the major land approaches into Freetown, the Child Soldiers rehabilitation Camp in Orogu and Disarmament Camp in Newton. He successfully carried out the special mission to dislodge Sam Bockerie, a notorious Revolutionary United Front Rebel considered inimical to the success of the Sierra Leone peace process without casualties.
In order to stop cross border rebel activities that had the potential to drag Guinea and Liberia into war, he led an Advance team in Nov 2000 that conducted an extensive reconnaissance mission throughout the length of the Guinea-Liberia borders in his capacity as the Military Adviser/Principal Programme Officer Peacekeeping at ECOWAS Executive Commission.
He subsequently presented the report at the Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Mediation and Security Council and The Summit of Heads of State and Government in Bamako Mali in Dec 2000 which was highly commended. Dixon developed the Concepts and Structures of ECOWAS Standby Forces, the military component of ECOWAS Mechanism on Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security which was adopted by the African Union as the model for other Sub-Regional Organizations in Africa.
He was the Point Officer – Design Team, ECOWAS Early Warning System in collaboration with EUCOM. Dixon also played a prominent role in negotiations with insurgents in Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone which set the stage for the signing of peace accords in those countries. He was a member of the first ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council Verification of Government of Liberia compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1343(2001) Apr 19-24,2001.
With his wealth of experience and right connections in and outside the country, Niger-Deltans are in for a jolly good ride through the years, as the Presidential Amnesty Programme would once again tend to their needs, making integrity and honesty its watchword.
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the Editorial Board of TheScript Newspaper.
