Advancing Holistic Human Capital Development: A Perspective on the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

Abstract:

The Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) was a policy thrust to tackle the intractable agitations and youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region due to utter neglect of the development of the region despite the enormous contributions to the national treasury from its rich-oil deposits and gas resources. Accordingly, this study uncovers human capital development in the Niger Delta states from the lens of the PAP. The study applied a quantitative research strategy with a structured questionnaire. A sample of 574 respondents was drawn through a multi-stage sampling design from 13, 254 chiefs, community leaders, youths and the staff of the amnesty office that serve as the target population of the study. From the primary and secondary data collected and analysed, the findings demonstrated that Presidential Amnesty programme had positive significant effect on vocational skills acquisition; a positive relationship between PAP and university educational advancement, there was a positive relationship between budgetary provision and human capital development among others. We concluded that the PAP has contributed to the human capital development of youths in the region. We recommended inter alia that the amnesty programme of the federal government of Nigeria should be committed to exposing ex-militants to vocational skill acquisition scheme to ensure self-reliance, and also should improve on the university educational advancement for ex-militants to acquire professional certification in the Niger Delta States.