PAP produces award-winning N/Delta scholars in UK as Eradiri urges stakeholders to re-elect Tinubu
Two 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 the programme’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 that the prize, valued at £500, was awarded to the student with the highest dissertation mark.
Similarly, Wokoma graduated as the best overall student in the Agriculture and Environmental Science programme, earning a £100 award from his university.
In a congratulatory letter, the institution commended his hard work and commitment to academic excellence, noting that the award was reserved for students who demonstrated exceptional merit.
Reacting to the development, the Media Director of the Tinubu Support Group (TSG), Bayelsa State chapter, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, described them as evidence of the impact of President Bola Tinubu’s investment in the Niger Delta through the PAP.
Eradiri, a former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, said the programme had sponsored more than 9,000 Niger Delta scholarship beneficiaries within and outside Nigeria under the Tinubu administration.
He added that the programme had also produced more than 111 master’s and doctoral graduates, alongside several first-class and second-class honours graduates.
Eradiri commended the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Brutu Otuaro, for aligning the programme with Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda through an educational framework aimed at addressing the region’s human capital development needs.
He said Otuaro had demonstrated commitment to repositioning the programme and sustaining its focus on education, skills development and the production of employable graduates.
According to him, the timely release of funds by the Tinubu administration has also helped address operational challenges and reduced protests previously associated with the programme.
“We commend Otuaro for reforming PAP and redirecting its focus towards closing the human capital development gap in the Niger Delta. The programme under Tinubu has produced a critical mass of employable Niger Delta indigenes.
“Tinubu inherited PAP at a time when there were calls for its scrapping because of its past failures. But the President, out of his commitment to the Niger Delta, chose to sustain and reform it to deliver development and prosperity to the region.
“With the achievements already recorded, it is clear that President Tinubu has the best interest of the Niger Delta at heart. He has demonstrated commitment to addressing one of the region’s critical needs, which is human capital development,” he said.
Eradiri said the achievements of the PAP had strengthened the case for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, urging Niger Delta stakeholders to support the President for a second term.
He cautioned against what he described as unrealistic campaign promises by opposition candidates, saying the region should consolidate on the gains recorded under the current administration.
“The examples of Joy and Wokoma show that President Tinubu’s investment in Niger Delta education through PAP is yielding tangible results.
“He has been tested and trusted in the Niger Delta and has demonstrated a template for the sustainable development of the region.
“This is no time to experiment with candidates making unrealistic promises. It is time for stakeholders to mobilise support for Tinubu’s re-election to enable him consolidate on the gains already recorded in the Nige
r Delta,” he said.
