By Nosakhare Agbonigiarhouyi
The Acting Governor of Edo State, Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu, met with officials of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and representatives of communities hosting the company on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, as part of efforts to resolve the lingering stand-off between NPDC and youths of the communities.
Recall that the youths in the communities staged a protest on Monday over a claim of marginalization by NPDC’s recruitment policies, leading to the shutdown of the company.
Addressing representatives of the 52 host communities, executives of the NPDC led by the Managing Director, Ali Muhammad Zarah, the Commissioner of Police in the State, Abutu Yaro, and other stakeholders in Government House, Benin City, Shaibu maintained that the administration would engage all the parties to the issue to ensure that the state’s vision to become the preferred destination for investments in the country is sustained.
“We want to have, not just government agencies here but we want Edo to be the hub of all economic activities because we will be the end beneficiaries. Whether federal, international companies, we want Edo to be their headquarters and operation zone, from where they can reach out to other southern parts of Nigeria and if possible, even the northern part. In doing that, we must have a community that is receptive,” he said.
The Acting Governor emphasized: “In a growing economy and a civilized environment, the thing that is constant is public awareness, and when the people become aware, it has its own challenges. It can be negative, it can be positive.
“But one challenge that you have with public awareness is that the people become aware of their rights and privileges. In such a situation, the new way is to protest when they feel their right is not being given to them”.
Chief Francis Inegbeneki and Mr. Peter Owen Ehimwiose, who spoke on behalf of the 52 communities, maintained that they have articulated their demands in a document they presented to the Acting Governor.
Some of the demands contained in the document include a request that a reasonable percentage of the total workforce in NPDC be given to the host communities; that the Chief Security Officer of the company should be a Benin man, to be appointed by the host communities; award of scholarships to qualified Benin youths from the host communities; the establishment of skill acquisition centers in the communities by NPDC, amongst others.
Shaibu assured a win-win situation for the parties and ordered for an immediate re-opening of the company’s premises while another meeting was scheduled to look more closely at the issues raised.
