Port Harcourt — The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd), has described the Niger Delta as the most peaceful and stable region in the country for people to live and do business.
Dikio made the remarks after receiving an award for repositioning PAP at the Niger Delta Media Awards organised by the GbaramatuVoice newspaper, held in Warri, Delta State.
He was honoured with a merit award for the excellent ways he had coordinated the amnesty programme since he came on board, leading to sustainable peace in the Niger Delta region.
Represented by 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”.
Dikio, therefore, urged media practitioners to report 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 further 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 were domiciled in the region.
He noted that media practitioners were not celebrated enough, considering their efforts and commended GbaramatuVoice newspaper for the initiative.
In his remarks, Publisher of the GbaramatuVoice newspaper, Jacob Abai, acknowledged the role journalists played over the years, in the success stories of the Niger Delta region.
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