By Sampson Boroh
Bayelsa State traditional elders under the aegis of Association of Rural Chiefs for Peace and Development (ARCPD) on Tuesday faulted what it described as grand plans to shortchanged the people of the Niger Delta region in the ongoing job recruitment exercise by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The group joined by Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) have written a protest letter to the state governors of the South-South region over the development.
They said lamented that the recruitment process already adopted by NNPC does not favour the people of the Niger Delta region from where the nation’s revenue mainstay is derived.
According to ARCPD pointed out that the ongoing job recruitment process in the NNPC has violated the nation’s quota system and insulted the people of the oil producing areas of the region.
The CLO argued that the protest letter sent to the South-South Governors under the Brace commission is a wake up call on them to speak up and halt the illegal processes being adopted by the NNPC against the thousands of unemployed youths from the region.
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Chief Nengi James-Eriworio, who spoke on behalf of both bodies, said the letter sent to the Governors and the National Assembly members is a wake up call and if such call does not galvanise them, “millions of youths from oil producing communities and local government within the Nine States of the region are being put on standby for a mass protest on the undue and illegal neglect of youths of the region in the job recruitment processes.”
Chief James-Eriworio said investigations showed that the unemployed youths of the region are the least employed in the NNPC and other multinationals,” our people are the least employed. With our 13 per cent derivation formulae, they don’t even consider our youths for jobs. The State Governors of the oil producing states should wake up and demand that the jobs be shared based on quota system. If it allocated to states, we want our share of the employment quota. “
” In the past, they always claim we are disadvantaged. But now, we have qualified an well trained youths from the oil producing states. Recently, CBN employment was done without an appreciable quantity of youths from the region. The Governors under the Brace commission should rise to the occasion and fight for their people. “
” But we have also put all our youths in the oil producing states to be ready for a mass protest to shut down the social and Economic activities in the Niger Delta and Abuja in order to drive home our protest against exclusion, neglect and In balance in the Nigerian nation
