Interim Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), has hailed prominent ex-agitator, Ebikabowei Victor-Ben, also known as Boyloaf, on his graduation with a First Class honours degree in International Relations and Diplomacy.
Boyloaf, a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), was last weekend awarded the First Class degree by Baze University in Abuja, during the institution’s 7th and 8th combined convocation ceremonies.
Dikio, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Nneota Egbe, said the feat underscored the capacity most beneficiaries of the PAP had built for themselves over the years and what should be expected in the emerging new Niger Delta.
He recalled similar achievements by some other ex-agitators like Nicholas Goodnews, who graduated with a First Class in Mass Communication at the University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom, earlier this year, describing them as the new faces of the region.
The PAP helmsman noted that the latest achievement by Boyloaf, who is also concurrently studying for a Master’s degree, should inspire others to work towards attaining greater heights, not just in academics but other industries for the benefit of the region and the country.
According to him, people should judge the region by the good things being churned out and not pockets of typical setbacks happening in other climes.
While congratulating Boyloaf, Dikio added that PAP under his leadership would “continue to encourage and support other beneficiaries who are willing to climb the ladder of success through hard and smart work”.
He said, “We celebrate this feat because it is a screaming one that explains the new direction the Niger Delta region is heading. A direction that is only open to intellectual activism and not what was obtainable in the recent past.
“We have often said that protest and other forms of civil disturbances, crime and criminality is not the way out. The struggle for a better Niger Delta can be achieved if we deploy our intellectual resources and abilities by building individual and collective capacity.
“It gladdens our heart that the likes of Ebikabowei Victor-Ben (Boyloaf) is leading this new direction in academics with his other compatriots like Senior High Chief Bibopere Ajube (Shoot-At-Sight), doing so in entrepreneurship and manpower development.
“All of these will bring sustained peace and development. Therefore, we urge other ex-agitators and youths in the region to also rise to the occasion and become the change agents that will be used to market the new Niger Delta”.