"The government has not been conscientious about implementing the rehabilitation and reintegration dimensions for the amnesty," Nnamdi Obasi, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG), told IRIN. "Part of this has been blamed on delays relating to the president’s illness, but more fundamentally, it was not well-thought-out or planned."
An amnesty for militants in the delta region was initiated by President Umaru Yar’Adua in July 2009 following regular outbreaks of violence from 2006-2009 culminating in a May 2009 military incursion by government troops into the delta’s creeks, which left thousands displaced.
Militants’ anger has largely been fuelled by communities being left out of the region’s oil wealth.
Through the amnesty program, militants surrender their weapons at collection centers and register to be trained in a job skill during which period they receive counseling and a monthly allowance of US$439 prior to being reintegrated into civilian society. At the same time the authorities put in place policies to ensure more oil wealth is directed back into community development.
Source: Allafrica