Late Alhjai Umaru Musa Yar'adua was elected president of Nigeria in April of 2007.
Though his family has been prominent in Nigerian politics since the 1960s, Yar'adua himself was relatively unknown in Nigeria's political circles.
Yar'adua, previously known only as the governor of Katsina, suddenly found himself thrust into the national and international spotlight.
Late President Yar'adua initiated the amnesty programme. Source: Twitter
READ ALSO: Five ex-militants graduate from Law School, get called to Nigerian Bar
A quiet, well-educated man, Yar'adua began his term facing a number of severe problems, including rampant corruption, chronic mismanagement of oil revenues, deep ethnic and religious tensions, and rising violence in the depressed but oil-rich regions around the mouth of the Niger River.
Yar'dua initiated the Niger-Delta Amnesty Programme which saw hundreds of youth, particularly those that took arms against the state going abroad for studies and professional training.
As of mid-2008, Yar'adua sent his then deputy, Goodluck Jonathan on missions to some of the armed rebel groups that have made the Niger Delta region an extremely dangerous and unstable place.
While many observers dismiss groups like the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) as criminal gangs, Yar'adua seems to recognize the validity of many of their underlying grievances, including catastrophic environmental damage from decades of poorly regulated oil production and a revenue-sharing system that leaves local residents in dire poverty despite the oil beneath their feet.
Yar'Adua offered an unconditional pardon and cash payments to rebels who agreed to lay down their arms.
Up to 10,000 militants whose attacks in the six Niger Delta states cost the country a third of its oil production, agreed to the deal.
Sabotage, oil siphoning rackets and kidnappings by criminal gangs and militants hit Nigeria's economy hard that year.
The federal government recently disclosed that it has spent over N34 billion on Niger Delta youths studying abroad within the past three years.
The current coordinator of the programme, Paul Boro, a retired military general who made the revelation, added that the global community is interested in replicating such efforts in some parts of Africa including Cote d'Ivoire.
He said such programmes are currently serving as a solution to resolving or even preventing conflict in various regions.
READ ALSO: Amnesty: Presidency hosts ex-militants (see photos)
Chief Chyna Iwuanyanwu accuses President Buhari of nepotism on - NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naij.com
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