By Amgbare Ekaunkumo, Yenagoa
The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), has boasted that the Niger Delta is currently the most peaceful and most stable region in the country to do business.
Dikio spoke at the weekend in Warri, Delta State, after receiving an award for repositioning PAP at the Niger Delta Media Awards organized by the GbaramatuVoice newspaper.
The event had in attendance top media executives in the Niger Delta, the Kogi State Governor, who was represented by the the Deputy Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Ahmed Mohammed, among other dignitaries.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Nneotaobase Egbe, Dikio said: “Going by statistics, the Niger Delta region is currently the most secure and stable place to live and do business.
“We call on all stakeholders to work on their mindset to see and sell a Niger Delta as the best place to live and do business in Nigeria”.
Egbe in a statement said Dikio urged media practitioners to reports the many positive sides of the region and avoid feasting on issues capable of demarketing the people and the area.
“No one can tell your story like you do. Tell the story of the wealth of the Niger Delta beyond the oil. There’s immense human and natural resources in the region; the region is not all about the oil”, he said.
He advised journalists to balance their reports by being objective lamenting that the Niger Delta had suffered greatly from negative reports and bad publicity.
Dikio insisted that the Niger Delta region had the most talented and most resourceful persons, adding that entertainment and creativity was domiciled in the region.
He said media practitioners were not celebrated enough, considering their efforts and commended GbaramatuVoice newspaper for the initiative.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer/Publisher of the GbaramatuVoice newspaper, Jacob Abai, acknowledged the role journalists had played over the years, in the success stories of the Niger Delta region.
Dikio was honoured with a merit award for the excellent way he had coordinated the amnesty programme since he came on board leading to sustainable peace in the Niger Delta region.
Other, who were honoured include Prince Sam Amuka Pemu, the publisher of Vanguard newspaper, Emmanuel Amaize, the editor, Vanguard, Jimitota Onoyume, a reporter with Vanguard, Grace Ekang of Channels TV, Usman Adamu Attaboh, among others.
