THE PRESIDENTIAL AMNESTY PROGRAMME & IT’S EDUCATION PROGRAM: THE MYTHS, FALLACIES & FACTS.
I was head of the Education Desk in the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), which is domiciled in the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, from January 7, 2013 till the first week of October 2015 when the intrigues became manifest.
I transitioned into the new administration of the programme basically to ‘handhold’ the new administration as is expected of me. This was regardless of the shabby manner staff and consultants in the Re-integration Department were treated. Six months down the line, I remain the only former Staff whose salary and allowances are still being withheld.
The handholding was very essential as education timelines are universal and time specific. Inability to meet these timelines as managers brings untold hardship on the students either managed or sponsored by the office.
The running of the PAP has its challenges (intrigues and threats) that we lived with for these years. We were able to manage this daily on the Education Desk, as daily contacts provided one an opportunity to explain oneself to the students either directly, through emails or telephone conversation. This window of communication has been curtailed thus the need to go public.
I am left with this option following recent death threats from some of the students that were asked to leave the United Kingdom before the expiration of their programme due to nonpayment of their tuition fees (for a total of 184 of them ) in the 2014/15 session and particularly the 2015/2016 academic session.
Two classes of students are been removed from the United Kingdom due to nonpayment of tuition fees as agreed with officials of the British High Commission - (i) Foundation students progressing to Year Two (2) Middle level & Final year legacy students who were affected by new school rules that prevent them from carrying over courses and thus needed their visas extended by some months, and (iii) Fresh students primed for deployment to the United Kingdom. The same ugly situation is replicating itself in the United States in various universities where the office has sponsored students.
I also wish to address the deliberate misinformation that is being fed the students, graft agencies and the public about me. Thus far the following statements have been made about me or put to me:
- That the students do not exist and ghost names abound on the education programme.
- That school fees and allowances are paid in cash to students abroad to enable me and my team to steal the proceeds.
- Why are beneficiaries attending expensive schools in America and not cheaper schools?
- That the Kaplan United States Pathway Programme is my vehicle to launder money and fraudulently enrich myself.
- Why did we send too many students abroad?
- That most of the students abroad are not academically qualified to study abroad.
- That I hid the tuition invoices of students thus preventing the payment of their fees.
- That the debts inherited from the previous administration have made it impossible for payment of their fees.
- That I instigated Kaplan to send the 43 kids on its USPP/CNAU programme to the USA in June 2015 without authorization.
- That these 43 kids under the Kaplan USPP do not deserve to attend Ivy League schools in the United States and thus should be sent to cheaper universities or be returned to Nigeria.
CAMPAIGN OF CALUMNY BY SECRET REPORTERS :
The online publication is supposedly owned by one Mr. Tega Sampson Oghenedoro (aka Fejiro Oliver), who according to media reports was a former staff of the Nigeria Television Authority and was arrested by the Department of State Security for involvement in a case of blackmailing the former Governor of Niger State, Aliyu Babangida. http://www.cknnigeria.com/2014/09/why-we-arrested-online-publisher-tega.html
The said publisher on behalf of his sponsors is bent on defaming me and staff of the Education Unit by making fabricated publications based purely on falsehood.
1. I quote a January 4, 2015 publication:
http://secretsreporter.com/index.php/2015/01/04/sex-scandal-rocks-niger-delta-amnesty/
“The action of not paying is not unconnected with the action of two ladies who work in the office and have become the sex toys of some of the top staffers, including Eugene Abels, the Head of Education desk, with only Mr.Oluremi John exempted from these sex escapades. The two ladies, Ms Timi and Oyanbo are alleged to warm the bed of Eugene and others in order keep holding on to money meant for the foreign students, which they control.”
The two ladies named here are married and I was their line manager.
If I, a superior officer, could not access government funds as I did not work in the Finance Department nor managed cash, how can these ladies “hold on to allowances” meant for students?
2. I quote a June 13, 2015 publication:
“The committee have (sic) signed for and collected the cash meant for the ex-militants without paying them because they see it as an avenue to divert the cash since a new government has been put in place and much questions on their activities may not be known.
“Those fingered in this fraud includes (sic) Mr. Kuku, Mr Eugene Abels, Mrs. Oyanbo Owie and Timi (who allegedly warmed the bed of Kuku) are the persons using the money for their personal interest to the detriment of the ex-militants and the purpose of the fund.’
The same spurious allegations were made here. Fees and allowances are not paid in cash except when the 2014 budget was not passed until April 2014 and the office through the Finance Department had to directly intervene to save the students from hardship in February 2014.
There is no room to divert allowances meant for students as they are remitted through regulatory channels to the accounts of the schools and the students.
These idolaters without a whiff of human sympathy have put the marriages of these ladies on the line.
3. I quote a October 30,2015 publication:
“Mr Eugene Abels has been alleged to have diverted funds meant for the payment of the ex-militants which he has been making illegal deductions from their take home allowances.
This publisher without finding out did not realize that I no longer had access to the payment process went ahead to make this spurious allegation.
“One of the ex-militants is reported to have died due to starvation of no food and no medical care.”
This is another very insensitive attempt to play politics with the demise of one of the best students on the programme in Belarus.
The Late Mr. Udochi Ogbonnaya was married to a Belarusian and had a child and was entitled to some rights meant for citizens of that nation. The late student, according to the autopsy report, died from complications arising from a tropical ailment.
It is sad and surprising that because he was a very private person, he kept his condition away from the office, colleagues and family in Nigeria.
In 2014, the desk had intervened in the same Belarus for a case of fibroid that required surgery and a case of orthopedic care which cost the government thousands of naira.
The desk had also intervened at points where the liabilities of medical insurance end, and this had stretched from cataract treatment, knee surgery, sickle cell conditions and other ailments that are covered by medical insurance.
THE PRESIDENTIAL AMNESTY PROGRAMME AND EFCC :
These acts of misinformation and deliberate falsehood have been extended to the anti-graft agencies.
I visited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on October 5, 2015 and was allowed to go on administrative bail.
The next day, October 6, 2015, I went back to submit documents about the programme but was detained over an allegation that I lied to the Commission that my office had written to them that they had sacked me. My bail was revoked based on that allegation.
A copy of the said letter was not shown to me. Till date, the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta has not written to me nor even paid my wages and allowances from May 2015.
My bail is secured by two sureties and my two passports withheld. I have been made (the only staff) to report to the EFCC daily since October 9 till date at great pains and cost.
I wish to put this on record that the financial transactions that concern the Education desk borders on Tuition, Allowances, Travel Allowances, Airline Tickets and visa-related expenses.
I am not unmindful of the ‘sponsored’ petitions that flood the various anti-graft agencies to distract them as it is delightful to note how official documents are availed these hired hands determined to demonize everybody who worked in the Amnesty Office.
THE EDUCATION PROGRAMME:
Currently, there are 3,074 students in the educational programme. 1,620 are studying in Nigerian universities while the rest are in the United Kingdom, Russia, Belarus, South Africa, Malaysia, Philippines, Canada, Kenya, Gambia, Benin, Grenada, United States, Ukraine, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium and the United Arab Emirates.
OUR DUTIES:
A total of 14 staff managed the 3,074 students in Nigeria and abroad. This is an average of about one staff to 200 students.
We contact the students, collate documents, confirm these documents, subject the beneficiaries to tests, prepare them for visa interviews, place them in universities, provide for their welfare and ensure compliance with laid down academic targets and attendance.
THE ADMISSION PROCESS:
The admission of beneficiaries for educational training are on two planks and must be duly approved by the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta -
- The ex-agitators that were demobilized in Obubra and approved to pursue formal education.
- Niger Delta youths admitted from the ‘Impacted Community’ window. This presidential window was created to facilitate effective community healing (As complaints were rife among youths who did not bear arms in the communities that they were been ignored by the federal government despite suffering in the affected in the communities).
The impacted community window was also to help the region build a workforce that has today accessed the Ivy League institutions of the world such as North Eastern University Massachusetts, Kings College London, Royal School of Surgeons Dublin, University of Rochester New York,Robert Gordon University Scotland, University of Liverpool,Liverpool just to name a few and they have accessed courses ranging from the Medicine to Atomic Science at various levels of study.
The Itsekiri beneficiaries are a positive example as the leaders deliberately chose those to access foreign education, the courses of study and the universities for their indigenes.
PLACEMENT OF STUDENTS ABROAD:
The legacy students inherited prior to my taking over the education desk are mostly in South Africa, Belarus, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.
As at January 2013, there were about 315 students in the United Kingdom. Remnants of this pioneer group can be found in Portsmouth, Anglia Ruskin, Plymouth, Glasgow and Edinburgh universities.
Beneficiaries for studies abroad under my watch must meet the educational criteria of the host country in terms of paper qualification and must sit for tests as stipulated by the host countries like IELTS and others.
Also we subject them to basic tests to ascertain that they ‘own’ the paper qualifications presented to the office.
ALLOWANCES AND STATUTORY FEES FOR STUDENTS:
All student-delegates (in school) in Nigeria are entitled to the following:
- Tuition and Accommodation
- In-training Allowance: N70,000 monthly
- Textbook Allowance: N20,000 per semester
- Laptop (One-off)
- Student-delegates (in school) abroad are entitled to:
- Tuition, Accommodation, Health Insurance (depending on the country)
- Warm Clothing Allowance (One-off) - $500
- In-training Allowance for Upkeep: £500 or $700/$500 (where the office pays for feeding and accommodation) and £700 for Post-Graduate students in the United Kingdom.
- Accommodation Allowance: £500 or $500 (for those outside the United Kingdom)
- Laptop (One-off)
THE PAYMENT PROCESS:
The graphic expression of the payment process is as follows:
For Bank Payment : Voucher-Payment -Mandate-Form A-Documents (Admission letter, International Passport, Invoice where applicable) direct remittance to the Student or the University Account as the case may be.
THE ISSUES:
The University Pathway or Foundation Programmes:
The foundation programmes or Pathway programmes were introduced in the western countries to prepare international students who intended to study abroad. These programmes were designed to address the gaps, style, culture and content experienced in education in developing nations and enable them cope with contemporary western education and on completion of this program, students spend only three years to attain Bachelor degrees.
The average cost of this programme in the United Kingdom for tuition and upkeep averaged £27,000 per student and a lot of students were struggling to cope with it for obvious reasons. The education desk sought and obtained the approval of the Special Adviser for the localization of the programme in order to save cost and ensure that only very competent students were allowed to travel abroad on completion of the programme.
A lot of preparations and consultations were embarked upon by the desk until Kaplan International Colleges approached the office to partner and participate in their brand new United States Pathway Program designed for Nigeria and China.
The former Special Adviser, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, opted for the Kaplan programme when it was confirmed that it will be monitored by the Unites States Embassy to ensure compliance with the rules that govern education in the United States.
This programme opened the difficult window for Niger Delta youths to access Ivy League education in the United States.
Kaplan United States Pathway Programme :
The programme entails students studying for nine months in Nigeria and then proceeding to the North Eastern University in Boston to meet other students from various parts of the world for a three-month Summer Bridge programme, which begins in June and at the conclusion of the programme in August they proceed to universities in the Consortium of North American Universities (CNAU) based on their grades. http://www.cnau-programs.com/univer...
The programme started in 2013 and this was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding endorsed by the executive management team of Kaplan Inc. USA and Hon. Kingsley Kuku as well as the Chief Legal Officer for the office, Ms. Sweet Okundaye for the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta.
The programme commenced with about 380 students in 2013 and this number was pruned down to 180 students after a written test. At the end of the programme in August 2013, only 137 students made it to the United States while the rest made it to schools in the United Kingdom.
The 2014-2015 session had 51 students. By May 2015, only 43 students were eligible to progress to the three-month Summer Bridge programme at the North Eastern University, Boston, which had June 10, 2015 as closing date for admissions. The former Special Adviser directed Kaplan to stand down on deploying these students to the United States until a new substantive head had been appointed for the office on the premise that the security nature of the programme will cause the incoming government to give it a priority.
The students were kept waiting until June 16, 2015 when Kaplan in consideration of the welfare of the students bore the expense of transporting the students to meet up with the programme and pledging to bear all their expenses until a substantive head was appointed for the office.
The likely reason for this was that the 31 credit units acquired by the students would not be accepted by any Nigerian university. Besides, they were not eligible for direct entry and also did not sit for JAMB. The credit units cannot be carried over to another year and if the students don’t meet the Summer Bridge programme they would have wasted the whole of 2015. Whether they proceeded to Boston or not, the office will still be indebted to Kaplan for unpaid tuition for the 2014/2015 session.
The current management has not shown a positive disposition towards this action by Kaplan and has refused to pay either the institution or the students any allowance as at October 2015. The students are very likely to be returned to the country. The reasons by the office for nonpayment include deployment of the students without authorization, expensive nature of the programme and allegations that the program was fraught with fraud even without any shred of evidence.
It is on record that the office has not paid Kaplan International Colleges, Lagos, a dime for training 51 students in the 2014/2015 academic session, I wonder where the fraud has emanated from to warrant such grave allegations.
The way forward: That these kids be spared further trauma and be fully funded by paying their tuition fees to the universities they have progressed to and all their allowances paid to them.
A visit to speak to them will also help them to feel very Nigerian. Anything less will impugn on the image of the country as they there are between the age of 16 and 20 years.
The Niger Delta region will appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for availing these kids Ivy League education that will position them for the very competitive future.
BROOKSTONE SCHOOL, PORT HARCOURT:
The programme had 25 students from the office, who all performed very well and even won prizes and acquired admission into reputable universities in the United Kingdom. In the light of the change in government, the students were asked to sit for JAMB at the expense of the school and the students excelled in the exams and also gained admissions into very reputable Nigerian universities like the American University of Nigeria, Yola, Adamawa State.
The refusal of the new administration to address this issue, despite several reminders, has resulted in these students missing both admissions as at September 29, 2015. The exception will be for those who made private arrangements.
The way forward: I recommend that the kids on this programme be scheduled to proceed to the United Kingdom in the January 2016 window and this can only be achieved when their tuition fees are fully paid on time.
DEBTS INHERITED ON THE EDUCATION PROGRAMME:
This has been a major excuse by the current administration in the Amnesty Office has been responsible for the challenges they are experiencing and has been responsible for the problems the students are currently facing.
In the face of inheriting statutory allocations for May and June 2015 in excess of N10billion, it will be proper to state the facts as follows:
- The office did not owe any of the 22 private and public universities in Nigeria for tuition for the 2014/2015 academic session.
- The inherited debt for the United Kingdom schools was N285million for 184 students.
- The inherited debt for schools in the United States was N134million for 90 students.
- The inherited debt for schools in East Europe and Asia amounted to N62million for 55 students.
- The debt to foundation schools in Nigeria were circa N370million.
- The Pro-forma invoice for the purchase of tickets for graduated students amounted to N55 million.
- Unpaid allowances for students for May and June 2015: For students in Nigeria amounted to N230 million monthly while for students abroad it was N565million monthly as at when the new Special Adviser assumed office.
- The summation of these outstanding obligations was circa N1.6bilion,
EDUCATION DESK PRIORITIES AS AT AUGUST 1, 2015 :
These priorities were based on the level of urgency occasioned by the age of the invoices for Tuition fees or welfare issues and the country-specific education timelines for programmes.
United Kingdom:
The plan was to clear all tuition-related debt issues for 184 students with the British Embassy/UKBA before September 2015 to enable all prospective students meant for the 2015/2016 academic session obtain visas based on our OSPAND Sponsorship letter.
Ensure that a meeting with the British High Commissioner for the purpose of restoring the credit status of the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and bringing the new Coordinator/Special Advser up to speed on the urgency of the matter.
Follow up with the office to provide proof of payment to the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) through the British Embassy in Nigeria.
Provide new sponsorship letters to (a) progressing students (b) all final year students with slight extensions (after approval) to be able to renew their visas without returning to Nigeria.
Compile and support with documents all approved prospective students for study in the United Kingdom for the 2015/16 session to be able to obtain visas in Nigeria.
Ensure no visa expires on any student in the UK to avoid a 10-year ban.
Rescue our stranded graduated students by providing them with tickets to return to Nigeria on time and prevent their visas expiring on them.
Payment of May and June 2015 allowances until more funds are received.
United States:
Payment of outstanding fees for summer classes et.al to the Consortium of North American Universities for the existing students.
Payment of allowances to the 43 students taken to the USA by Kaplan Int’l Colleges Lagos.
Payment of Tuition fees to Kaplan Int’l Colleges for the USPP 2014/2015 Programme.
Payment of all summer fees for other universities in the United States like the Alabama State University with 38 students and the University of Birmingham, Alabama, for tuition and accommodation for 21 students.
Prepare to receive invoices for spring term by September 2015.
Russia:
Appeal to the Russian Embassy and the Nigeria High Commission in Moscow to verify the tuition invoices sent by the students of People’s Friendship University, Moscow.
Arrange for a meeting through the foreign desk for the Special Adviser to meet with the Russian Ambassador to effect the rights of the students to have direct dealings with the People’s Friendship University, Moscow and the Southwest State University, Kursk.
Payment of May and June 2015 allowances.
Belarus:
Payment of tuition for the 2015/2016 session for the 53 students in four institutions.
Payment of May and June 2015 allowances
Obtain autopsy reports and conclude arrangements for the repatriation and burial of the body of a deceased student in Nigeria.
Nigeria:
Payment of May, June 2015 Allowances
Verification of over 1,200 applicants who scored 180 marks in the Joint Matriculation Examinations for the purpose of placing them in Nigerian universities when authorized by the Special Adviser.
Placement of the graduates of the foundation programmes in Nigeria in schools abroad or Nigeria as expected to be directed by the Special Adviser.
Malaysia:
Seek approval and relocate 23 students from Nilai University to Leeds Beckett University, Malaysia, as advised by the Nigeria High Commission.
Provide Tickets for graduated students and six (6) expelled students whose visas were running out.
Deal with the issue of detained students by the authorities.
What the Education Desk did :
It engaged the schools and students and kept them abreast of issues all through the period of no substantive who could authorize expenditure as a signatory to the office accounts.
On assumption of duty, Brig-General Paul Boroh (rtd) was duly informed about the urgency to deal with the financial situation of the education of the programme and their time bound nature.
We went before the Gen. Boroh-constituted Verification Committee headed by Dr. Ken Ehigie twice to defend the financial commitments for the education desk, particularly as it concerned payment of outstanding tuition and allowances to students.
At the instance of the desk, meetings were programmed to hold with the Ambassadors of the United Kingdom, USA and Russia through the Head of Foreign Desk.
All attempts to make the Special Adviser write to the Central Bank Governor to intervene in the provision of evidence of payment of fees (Telex Advices) and submission to the UK High Commission were rebuffed by him.
We also submitted to the EFCC, Board of Enquiry and Boroh’s Data team the data of our students (Comprising of Names, Passport details, school, course, start & finish dates) for purposes of verification.
The desk ensured all payment memos and files were properly endorsed and put before the Special Adviser. Based on this, the allowances for May and June 2015 was paid to all students. By third week of August 2015, all documentation for the payment of July and August 2015 allowances had been laid before the Special Adviser.
The desk officers compiled the list of those who sat for JAMB 2015 examinations and submitted same to the data team for verification while the memos for deployment were submitted for approval to the Special Adviser.
WHAT THE SPECIAL ADVISER & HIS TEAM SHOULD HAVE DONE
The Special Adviser should have:
- Directed the finance department on time to provide evidence of payment to the schools in the United Kingdom for 2014/2015 for submission to the British Embassy.
- Prevail on the Central Bank of Nigeria through its Governor to give the payment of tuition priority over all other payments.
- Prevail on the Central Bank Governor to support in the provision of evidence of recent remittance or payment called Telex Advices or Debit Notes under the TSA regime for submission to the British Embassy.
- Payment of May and June 2015 allowances as at October 2015 to the 43 students on the Kaplan USPP to enable them afford basic necessities.
- Approve deployment plan for the 2015 /2016 academic session for applicants who sat for JAMB after due verification.
CONSEQUENCES OF NON-ADHERENCE TO ADVICE :
United Kingdom:
- All final year students with expired visas who are to graduate between December 2015 and June 2016 will not meet this target.
- All students whose visas expired due to the inability of the office to provide them tickets will be banned for 10 years and refused entry into the United Kingdom to conclude their studies or even attend their convocation.
- Over 100 students must leave the United Kingdom before the end of the year due to expired visas and refusal of schools to support their visa applications due to the inability of the office to meet the conditions of the British Embassy.
United States:
- The 137 students in the Consortium of North American Universities in United States stand the risk of been excluded from school if their fees are not paid as soon as possible.
- The refusal of the office to pay Kaplan International Colleges and maligning the firm as corrupt might result in the deportation of the 43 students, who are averagely under 17 years.
- The students in the University of Alabama, Birmingham, face been thrown out of their accommodation due to non-payment.
Nigeria:
- The chances of all those primed for studies in Nigeria are unlikely as the admission window has closed.
- They will miss this academic year except a legal extension is granted by JAMB.
- Their JAMB results will become useless by next year.
THE WAY FORWARD:
- A presidential directive to the Nigerian High Commissions for all related sponsored students to go and register their problems with the charge de affaires for Education Counsel in the embassy.
- This process can be supported by the Nigeria Intelligence Agency desk heads in the affected high commissions where there are Presidential Amnesty Programme sponsored students.
- The office to collate and properly inform the nation of the problem and come out with a plan and timelines for resolution of these problems instead of distorting and misinforming the students and the public.
- The office to prioritize and pay all outstanding fees in the United Kingdom and the United States to enable the students meet the January 2016 window.
- Submission of all documents and addresses of finance contact persons in the UK schools as agreed to the British High Commission.
- Convene a talk shop to sensitize the affected students about the plan of the office in resolving these issues with practical timelines.
- Payment of my allowance and salaries for May, June, July, August, September 2015 to date.
SUGGESTIONS FOR INVESTIGATION OF THE EDUCATION DESK UNDER MY WATCH BY THE ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION :
- The EFCC/Office, if still in doubt of the existence of students in universities abroad, should use the payment files at its disposal and compare it with the list of students submitted to them by the Education Desk and then send these names (student ID, passport number) to the embassies through our Ministry of Foreign Affairs for verification.
- The EFCC can submit these list of students on a country by country basis to their embassies for confirmation purposes such as the UK Embassy,US Embassy,Russian Embassy et.al.
- The fraud office in the United Kingdom and the Internal Revenue Service in the United States can be petitioned to see if any form of commission was paid to me.
- The office before sending students out of the country inform the following offices in writing and they include :Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Immigration Service, Office of the National Security Adviser and the Nigerian missions abroad. These offices can be asked to submit these documents for verification purposes.
The Kaplan Inc USSP program can be reported to the Internal Revenue Service of the United States through our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to investigate the allegations of money laundry.
THE UNATTRACTIVE COST OF THE EDUCATION PROGRAMME:
The Amnesty program has been saddled with a huge financial burden associated with training Niger Delta youths in top foreign universities in the world and it would be escapist to jettison this programme because of the cost or downgrade the students to cheaper schools.
Let these youths be determined by their capacities and results as the future will be very competitive and only excellence in education can become a foot-in-the-door for the youths of the region.
My fear is occasioned by the absence of a clear plan for the programme and the outright refusal to meet financial obligations of the education desk despite expending more than three or four months of statutory financial allocations to the program.
WINDING DOWN OF THE PROGRAMME:
We are aware of the Presidential directive to wind down the programme by December 31, 2015.
It will be appropriate if the current happenings are made public to the stakeholders and students from the Niger Delta and the Presidential Amnesty Office makes public a deliberate winding down programme for the education program with specific timelines.
In the light of the recent change in government and perceptions in the Niger Delta region, my call for this review is to prevent these anomalies stated herein to be used by mischievous persons to misinform or misconstrue the intentions of President Muhammadu Buhari administration for the people of the Niger Delta region under this program.
If these issues are dealt with as suggested, the programme will by December 2015 graduated over 820 students from the Niger Delta region.
God bless Nigeria!
Eugene Abels
Former Technical Personnel –Education & Desk Head of the Education program Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Presidential Amnesty Programme.