By Li Huailin

    LAGOS, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan said the amnesty program of the federal government was not limited to the militants alone but the youth in general, the News Agency of Nigeria reported on Tuesday.

    Jonathan gave the clarification at the Second Nigerian Youth Summit on Monday with the theme "Youth: Agents of Change and Development".

    The vice president said the program was designed to benefit not only the militants but also law-abiding youths of the Niger Delta and the country at large.

    "The programs of amnesty are divided into four, the three stages of disarmament, rehabilitation and integration is limited to the repentant militants," he said.

    "The fourth and most important segment of the program, which is the capacity building and youth empowerment, will involve all the youths," he added.

    "The recruitment process for this is for all the youths and not limited to the militants alone," he said.

    Jonathan was responding to complaints by the youths that more attention was being devoted to militants than the law-abiding youths.

    According to him, the president's embracing the repentant militants does not mean that the other youths are not relevant.

    "Those who carried weapons are less than 5 percent of the youths and because they have decided to repent and come back, we need to celebrate," he said.

    "There is no way the President will abandon the 95 percent or more of the youths," the vice-president said.

    He likened the amnesty to the Biblical story of the Prodigal son who after squandering his inheritance returned home to beg for his father's forgiveness.

    The vice president also disclosed that the Nigerian federal government had approved a number of initiatives aimed at youth empowerment in the country.

    Jonathan said that the federal executive council had already approved the Revised National Youth Policy, which he described as a consensus blueprint for a holistic approach to youth development.

    He added that the Nigerian Youth Empowerment Action Plan which, he said was a roadmap to poverty reduction and massive youth empowerment had also been approved.

    He appealed to the youths to embrace peace and assured them that the government would not relent in its efforts to ensure that they attained their desired goals.

    Ealier, Minister of Youth, Akinlabi Olasunkanmi said the summit provided a platform for the youth from the 774 local government areas to make an input to national planning and development.

    He assured the participants that the resolution from the summit would be forwarded to the Presidency for implementation.